HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks kicked off the week on an upbeat note, tracking gains in US markets on Friday following the release of the November jobs report that showed continuing labour market improvement.
In early trades, the Hang Seng Index was up 0.51 per cent or 112.36 points at 22,348.25.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.56 per cent or 54.64 points to 9888.92.
The mining subindex was up 1.1 per cent, while media gained 0.61 per cent and utilities were up 0.59 per cent.
Major indexes in China were little changed in early trades, with the Shanghai Composite Index at 3527.60, rising 2.6 points, and the CSI300, which tracks the large companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, up 2.42 points 3680.01. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.25 per cent, or 5.58 points, to t 2227.68, while Nasdaq-style ChiNext traded at 2706.70, up 0.54 per cent, or 14.54 points.
The onshore yuan traded at 6.4013, down 0.008 per cent from Friday’s close while the offshore yuan traded at 6.4447, rising 0.03 per cent from Friday’s close.
The People’s Bank of China set the yuan reference rate at 6.3985, adjusting it down 134 basis points from Friday.
Monday’s session is the first since the release of US jobs data for November on Friday, which showed a net gain for the month of 211,000 new jobs, holding the nation’s unemployment rate held at 5 per cent.
The jobs data meets the Federal Reserve’s target requirements for an interest rate hike, and is the final important indicator prior to its two-day policy meeting set to begin on December 15.
All three major US indices rose on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index ended the session 2.12 per cent higher, rising 369.96 points, at 17,847.63, the Nasdaq rose 2.08 per cent, or 104.74 points, to 5,142.27, and the S&P 500 tacked on 2.05 per cent, or 42.07 points, to close at 2,091.69.
In early action around Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.4 per cent or 273.11 points at 19,777.59.
Meanwhile, China’s largest brokerage CITIC Securities said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday that it couldn’t contact its senior investment bankers, Chen Jun and Yan Jianlin.
Most Hong Kong-listed companies’ American Depository Receipts (ADRs) traded in New York advanced during the US session on Friday.
After conversion into Hong Kong dollar, HSBC’s ADR closed at HK$62.039, up from Hong Kong’s market close of HK$61.5. China Life’s ADR rose to HK$26.459 from HK$26.1.
Falling oil prices dragged down major Chinese oil stocks. Sinopec’s ADR closed at HK$4.806, down from Hong Kong’s close of HK$4.810, CNOOC’s ADR closed at HK$8.953, down from HK$9.04, PetroChina’s ADR closed at HK$5.521, down from HK$5.540. Last week, the Hang Sang Index gained 0.76 per cent to finish the week at 22,235.89.
