HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks advanced Thursday morning as the benchmark Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.39% rose 0.5%. Among the top movers, state-owned Bank of Communications Co. 3328, +2.62% BKFCF, +0.52% 601328, +8.27% surged 5.9% after a Bloomberg report quoted an unnamed source Wednesday as saying that bank has a final reform plan allowing larger non-government stake holdings could receive a green light in two weeks at the soonest. Other Chinese banks also rose, partly boosted by a state-media report that taxes for the financial, property and consumer-services sectors may be lowered soon as part of the reform of the value-added tax expected to come out in July. China Merchants Bank Co. 3968, +2.01% CIHHF, -1.38% 600036, +2.67% rallied 3.6%, China Citic Bank Corp. 0998, -0.61% CHBJF, -7.26% 601998, +2.15% gained 2.1%, China Minsheng Banking Corp. 1988, -0.75% 600016, +0.77% CMAKY, +0.22% climbed 2.1%, Bank of China Ltd. 3988, -0.39% BACHY, -0.30% 601988, +2.90% rose 1.7%, and China Construction Bank Corp. 0939, -0.26% CICHF, +1.99% 601939, +2.41% improved by 1.5%. In the property sector, top outperformers included China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. 0688, -0.36% CAOVF, -1.45% (up 2.5%), China Vanke Co. 2202, -1.64% (up 2%) and Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. 0813, -0.36% SIOPF, -3.38% 600823, -38.00% (up 1.6%). Electric-car and battery maker BYD Co. 1211, +3.76% BYDDF, -0.44% 002594, +9.99% in which Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.B, +0.11% owns a stake, also soared 8.4% after the company announced a share placement of 261 million new mainland-China-listed shares in order to raise as much as 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) for battery-production expansion and alternative-energy vehicle research. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -1.78% added 0.5%.
