Economic optimism lifts HK stocks to 2-1/2-year high after Lunar New Year break

Damai Entertainment Holdings

16/02/2021 05:09

* Hang Seng index climbs 1.8%
    * China Enterprises index HSCE rises 1.69% 
    * HS Tech Index surge 3.36%, HSI property sector up 2.95%

    Feb 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks rose on Tuesday, on
track to mark a bull run on the first day of trading after the
Lunar New Year holidays, with investors willing to take in more
risk tracking a firmer overseas market on optimism over global
economic recovery.
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  rose 1.8% at 30,717.38 by
mid-day, the highest since June 2018, while the China
Enterprises Index  .HSCE  climbed 1.69% to 12,081.86 points.   
    ** The Hang Seng Tech Index  .HSTECH  surged 3.36% and the
Hang Seng sub-index, tracking information technology firms,
 .HSCIIT  gains 0.27%.
    ** China's mainland markets will remain closed for the Lunar
New Year celebrations and are scheduled to reopen on Feb. 18.
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  ticked up 0.45% while Japan's Nikkei
 .N225  rose 0.4% to a 30-year high.
    ** Chinese box offices set a revenue record of over 6
billion yuan ($929.6 million) for the week beginning Feb. 11,
following a movie-going rush at the start of the holidays,
sending IMAX China  1970.HK  up as much as 90%, Alibaba Pictures
 1060.HK  and Maoyan  1896.HK  up over 20%  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KM0NU
    ** The Hong Kong Hang Seng sub-index, tracking property
firms  .HSNP , gained 2.95% and the Hang Seng Finance Index
 .HSNF  climbed 2.05%.
    ** The top gainer in the Hang Seng Index was PetroChina
 0857.HK , which was up 10.29%, while the biggest percentage
loser was Meituan  3690.HK , which dropped 1.66%.
    ** The biggest gainer in Hang Seng Tech Index was ZhongAn
Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd  6060.HK , which soared 25.05%,
while the top percentage loser was NetEase Inc  9999.HK , down
3.54%

    ($1 = 6.4542 yuan)

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3952 5874; Reuters
Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))