HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks took a good start on Tuesday morning, with the Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.54% rising 0.6%, almost erasing the previous session’s 0.7% loss on the back of disappointment over the delay in direct share trading between Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Likewise, Hong Kong’s mainland-China-tracking H-share index moved 0.8% higher, while further north, the Shanghai Composite Index, rose 0.5%. Financial stocks, hit hard a day earlier, were among the gainers, with Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. Went up +0.57% and Bank of Communications Co. increased +1.44% and China Construction Bank Corp. surged +1.08%, while China Life Insurance Co. soared +1.15%.
Meanwhile, Tokyo stocks opened 0.17 per cent lower on Tuesday as caution grew ahead of a policy meeting by the US Federal Reserve.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange slipped 25.44 points to 15,363.28 at the start.
Trading was likely to be muted as investors await the start of the two-day US Federal Open Market Committee summit beginning later Tuesday, traders said.
“The Fed’s position on the viability of the US economic recovery as well as the winding down of its quantitative easing programme will be under close scrutiny – especially in terms of how it translates to the currency market,” said Investrust CEO Hiroyuki Fukunaga.
