Hong Kong Shares Rebound On US Lead

The Hang Seng Index closed in positive territory on Thursday along with most other markets in the region, after Wall Street reversed course from two days of losses sparked by Covid worries.

The local benchmark opened higher but briefly dipped just into the red, before climbing back up to end 133 points, 0.5 percent, higher at 28,755.

Market turnover was HK$154.5 billion.

The leading blue-chip gainer was Meituan. The food delivery platform jumped 3.5 percent, after celebrity asset manager Cathie Wood bought more of its shares.

Auto shares broadly declined. Geely slipped 1.8 percent. And Great Wall Motor sank almost 13 percent, despite posting a return to first quarter profit as analysts warned of a higher-than-expected impact from a chip supply shortage.

Sands China eked out 0.1 percent of gains, even though the casino operator reported that its first quarter net loss had expanded to US$213 million.

Cathay Pacific edged up 0.9 percent, after the flag carrier said it will shut its Canadian pilot base.

Markets across the border were mixed. The Shanghai Composite index and the blue-chip CSI300 index each gave up about 0.2 percent. But the Shenzhen Composite put on 0.5 percent.

Around the region, Japan's Nikkei surged 2.4 percent. The Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.2 percent. Australia inched up 0.8 percent. Singapore gained about one percent. But Taiwan shed 0.6 percent.