Hong Kong stocks close at 2-1/2 year high on economic optimism after Lunar New Year break

Damai Entertainment Holdings

16/02/2021 08:52

* Hang Seng index rises 1.9%
    * China Enterprises index HSCE gains 1.31% 
    * HS Tech Index climbs 2.72%, HSI property up 3.56%

    Feb 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks closed higher on
Tuesday, marking a bull run on the first day of trading after
the Lunar New Year holidays with investors tracking strength in
overseas market on optimism over global economic recovery.
    ** Expectation that COVID-19 would gradually come under
control and anticipation of strong buying interest from mainland
investors as China markets reopen on Thursday aided demand for
laggards such as property and old economy stocks, brokers said.
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  surged 1.90% to end at
30,746.66, the highest close since June 2018, while the China
Enterprises Index  .HSCE  rose 1.31% to 12,036.15 points.   
    ** China's mainland markets will remain closed for the Lunar
New Year celebrations and are scheduled to reopen on Feb. 18.
    ** The Hang Seng property sub-index  .HSNP  gained 3.56% and
the Hang Seng Finance Index  .HSNF  rose 2.57%.
    ** The Hang Seng Tech Index  .HSTECH  gained 2.72% and the
Hang Seng sub-index, tracking information technology firms,
 .HSCIIT  was up 0.77%.
    ** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  edged up 0.56% while Japan's Nikkei
 .N225  rose 1.28%.
    ** IMAX China  1970.HK  led gains in cinema stocks, soaring 
as much as 88%, after 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  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KM0NU
    ** Shares of Alibaba Pictures  1060.HK  surged as much as
37.4%, and  Maoyan Entertainment  1896.HK  also jumped 24.5%.
    ** The top gainer in the Hang Seng Index was PetroChina
 0857.HK , which was up 13.17%, while the biggest percentage
loser was Tencent  0700.HK , which dropped 1.59%.
    ** The biggest gainer in Hang Seng Tech Index was ZhongAn
Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd  6060.HK , which soared 32.16%,
while the top percentage loser was NetEase Inc  9999.HK , down
4.47%

    ($1 = 6.4542 yuan)

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3952 5874; Reuters
Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))