HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares extended gains on Friday morning after a rebound on Wall Street overnight, even as trading volumes remained thin ahead of a long holiday weekend.
The Hang Seng Index had risen 0.3% to 29,444.78 by the noon break. Personal-computer maker Lenovo Group added 2.9%, erasing losses accumulated earlier this month. Tencent Holdings, Hong Kong’s most valuable company, gained 0.8%. Mainland property developers China Resources Land and China Overseas Land & Investment increased 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively, while Country Garden Holdings climbed 2%.
Traders appeared to be staying on the sidelines, keeping volumes low. About 35.9 billion Hong Kong dollars ($4.6 billion) worth of stocks had changed hands on Hong Kong’s main board by noon Friday, weaker than usual at that time of day.
“Tencent is believed to be the reason for the market’s rise, but it will be hard for the index to rise up to its previous peak in November,” said Sam Chi-yung, senior strategist of South China Financial Group. “The turnover today is expected to remain low as it is the eve of a long holiday.”
Markets in Hong Kong will be closed on Monday and Tuesday for Christmas and Boxing Day.
U.S. equity indexes snapped a two-day losing streak overnight to end higher as financial and energy stocks advanced. The Nikkei Asia300 Index added 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1%. The onshore-traded yuan strengthened 0.2% against the U.S. dollar to 6.5720.
Huadian Power International added 0.7% in Hong Kong after saying it plans to sell an 8% equity interest in Huadian Property to controlling shareholder China Huadian for 665.76 million yuan ($101.2 million).
GCL New Energy Holdings climbed 1.8% after agreeing to sell power assets to China Resources Leasing for 468.2 million yuan, and lease them back.
China Unienergy Group jumped 7.6%. The company, primarily engaged in the extraction and sale of anthracite coal in China, said its unit agreed to purchase exploration rights in Guizhou Province for 288 million yuan.
Data-services company Peace Map Holding lost 4% after forecasting a “substantial loss” for the year ending Dec. 31.
