HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks notched moderate gains Monday morning, with shares of mainland Chinese companies rebounding after losses at the end of last week. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.5%, while the mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises Index recovered 0.8% following two straight day of declines. Mainland Chinese markets were closed for a public holiday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index having sunk 13.3% last week. In Hong Kong, online major Tencent Holdings Ltd. advanced 0.8% after China’s State Council issued guidelines Saturday about promoting the development of cross-border e-commerce business among Chinese companies and encouraging Chinese banks and payment organizations to develop yuan-denominated e-payment services for those activities. Among smaller tech firms, online-transaction-service provider China Binary Sale Technology Ltd. jumped 3.8%. Chinese banks also traded mostly higher, as Bank of China Ltd. moved up by 1.2%, shrugging off reports that Italian prosecutors were seeking to charge the bank’s Milan branch in connection with a money-laudering case. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. improved by 1%, Bank of Communications Co. tacked on 0.8%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. edged up 0.2%. Among other market movers, electric-vehicle and battery maker BYD Co. climbed 3.6% after Daiwa Securities rated the shares outperform for the first time. Among other blue-chip movers, telecoms giant China Mobile Ltd. zoomed 1.7% higher, and China Life Insurance Co. improved by 1.1%.
