Hong Kong shares mark highest close in nearly 4 weeks

China Taiping Insurance Holdings

17/08/2020 09:47

* Hang Seng Index ends up 0.71%
    * China Enterprises index HSCE rises 1.29% 
    * HSI financial sector sub-index gains 1.2% 

    Aug 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares marked their highest
close in nearly four weeks on Monday, tracking a regional rise
after China's central bank provided more medium-term loans to
the country's financial system.
    
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was up
178.92 points or 0.71% at 25,505.82, its highest close since
July 21. 
 
** The Hang Seng China Enterprises index  .HSCE  rose 1.29% to
10,450.56.
 
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 1.4%, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT  dipped 0.27%,
and the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 1.15% higher.
 
** China's central bank issued medium-term loans worth 700
billion yuan ($100.86 billion) to financial institutions on
Monday, rolling over 550 billion yuan of such loans maturing in
August and injecting a further 150 billion. It left borrowing
costs unchanged.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N2F000G    
 
** Shares of securities firms followed their counterparts on the
mainland higher, after the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said on
Friday that the first batch of companies registered for listing
on Shenzhen's ChiNext start-up board under a revamped initial
public offering system will make their debuts on Aug. 24. The
move is expected to lift brokerage firms' valuations.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2FJ0QM
 
** China Merchants Securities Co Ltd  6099.HK  jumped 13.19%.
 
** Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd  0175.HK , bucked the broader
trend, falling 6.35% after the company trimmed its full-year
sales outlook.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2FJ17L
 
** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed up 2.34%
at 3,438.80 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300 
ended up 2.35%.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was down 0.24%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed 0.83% lower.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.942 per U.S. dollar at
0807 GMT, 0.12% firmer than the previous close of 6.9501. 
 

 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 2083 0079; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))