Hong Kong shares edge up, tech index shines

Guangdong Investment

23/07/2020 09:54

* Hang Seng, H-shares both climb 0.8% after plunging on
Wednesday
    * U.S. closes Chinese consulate, Beijing vows retaliation
    * Local stocks firm amid positive tech headlines - brokerage

    HONG KONG, July 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares ended higher
on Thursday as investors returned their focus to the city's
rallying tech stocks, shaking off fears of escalating U.S.-China
tensions.
    
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was up 0.8%
at 25,263.00. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index  .HSCE  also
rose 0.8%.
 
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  rose 2.4%, the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.5%
higher and the property sector  .HSNP  fell 0.1%.
 
** The Hang Seng plunged most in nearly six weeks on Wednesday
after the United States gave China 72 hours to close its
consulate in Houston amid accusations of spying. China called
the move "unprecedented escalation" and vowed retaliation.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2ET1XV
    
** But analysts at Guodu Securities (Hong Kong) said shares in
the city have been gaining as a new tech index is to be launched
next week. The uptrend should continue if there is no further
significantly bearish news in Sino-U.S. relations.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nP8N2EK01W
    
** Hong Kong is drawing a flurry of IPOs of internet companies.
News of a listing by Ant Financial, owned by Alibaba Group
 9988.HK   BABA.N , lifted shares of companies associated with
it this week.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2ES0IU
    
** MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index  .MIAPJ0000PUS  firmed 0.5%.
 
** About 1.91 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, more
than the previous session's 2.39 billion.
 
** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
32.76% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.  .HSCAHPI 

 (Reporting by Noah Sin;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
 ((Noah.Sin@thomsonreuters.com; +852 5202 7991; Reuters
Messaging: noah.sin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; Twitter: https://twitter.com/noah_sin))