Local Shares Touch One-year High As Insurers Shine

A late rally propelled the Hang Seng Index to finish at a one-year high on Tuesday as mainland shares led gains in the region.

The Hang Seng Index started the day slightly lower and widened its losses to more than 100 points.

But it reversed course in the afternoon and finished at its highest level for the day at 28,276, up 368 points or 1.3 percent.

Turnover was HK$199.1 billion.

Among the top performers on the blue-chip index were mainland insurers after a number of banks lifted their outlook. China Life soared 6.9 percent to become the day's top gainer while Ping An Insurance jumped 6 percent.

Mainland telco firms also did well. China Mobile surged 6.6 percent and China Unicom advanced 6 percent.

Markets across the border rebounded from their biggest decline in three weeks. The Shanghai Composite index rallied 2.2 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index rose 2.9 percent. The Shenzhen Composite index gained 1.9 percent.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei in Japan closed up 0.1 percent after touching a fresh three-decade high, boosted by drugmakers on reports of effective coronavirus treatment. But the Kospi in Seoul gave up 0.7 percent. Taiwan edged down 0.4 percent. Australia and Singapore were down as well.