Hong Kong stocks rally as tech shares lend support

Guangdong Investment

01/04/2021 09:33

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 100%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 3.4%
    * HSI +2.0%, HSCE +2.2%, CSI300 +1.2%
    * FTSE China A50 +1.3%

    April 1 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks started the month on a
firm note on Thursday, led by tech players tracking overnight
gains on Wall Street, as investors cheered the government
spending plan in the United States and hoped for strong jobs
data.
    ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was up
1.97% at 28,938.74. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index
 .HSCE  rose 2.24% to 11,217.41. 
    ** Leading the gains, the Hang Seng tech index  .HSTECH  and
the Hang Seng IT index  .HSCIIT  jumped 4.7% and 6.1% each. 
    ** Gaming giant Tencent  0700.HK  ended up 7.2%.   
    ** U.S. President Joe Biden outlined a broad plan to re-make
the world's biggest economy including spending on roads,
railways, broadband, clean energy and semiconductor manufacture.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LT01L 
    ** China's factory activity in March expanded at the slowest
pace in almost a year on softer overall domestic demand, but
underlying economic conditions remained positive even as input
and output inflationary pressures intensified for manufacturers.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nZUN001TLT
    ** The findings contrast with those in an official survey,
which showed manufacturing activity grew at a stronger pace as
large firms ramped up production after a brief lull during the
Lunar New Year holidays.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LS0XY 
    ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 0.3%, the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.41%
higher and the property sector dipped 0.35%.
    ** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed up
0.71% at 3,466.33, while the blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300 
ended up 1.24%.
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 1.25%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed up 0.72%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.5711 per U.S. dollar
at 0811 GMT, 0.29% weaker than the previous close of 6.5518. 
    ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
32.95% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

 (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))