Hong Kong stocks firm as virus fears ease

Shenzhou International group

12/02/2020 08:58

* Hang Seng up 0.9%, H-shares add 0.7%
    * HK shares track Chinese, regional markets
    * Expert says epidemic could end by April
    * New cases in mainland China drop to 2-week low

    HONG KONG, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares rose on
Wednesday as a slowdown in the rate of new coronavirus
infections in mainland China eased some concerns about the
economic impact from the epidemic.      
 
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was up 0.9%
at 27,823.66. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index  .HSCE  rose
0.7%.
 
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 0.9%, the IT sector  .HSCIIT  gained 1.1%, the
financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.9% higher and the property
sector  .HSNP  rose 0.6%.
 
** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Galaxy Entertainment
Group Ltd  0027.HK , which gained 4.4%, while the biggest loser
was Hengan International Group Company Ltd  1044.HK , which fell
0.6%.
 
** New confirmed cases in mainland China - at 2,015 on Tuesday -
fell to their lowest in almost two weeks, the National Health
Commission said on Wednesday. New cases in the Hubei province,
the epicentre of the virus, also hit the lowest since Jan. 31 .
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AC0WG urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N28N01J
 
** The drop in new cases lent credence to a prediction by
Beijing's senior medical adviser, Zhong Nanshan, that the
outbreak is hitting a peak in China this month and may end by
April.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AB2AT
    
** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  and the
blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  also rose as worries about the
coronavirus eased, marking their seventh session of gains.  .SS 
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.7%. Japan's Nikkei index  .N225 
closed up 0.7%.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was 0.1% weaker at 6.976 per dollar by
0811 GMT. 
** About 1.8 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded,
compared with almost 1.9 billion shares in the previous session.
 
** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
23.72% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.  .HSCAHPI 
** The short and one-factor leveraged Hang Seng index  .HSISI ,
which is designed to replicate the payoff of a short or
leveraged portfolio and is linked to the movements of the Hang
Seng Index, was lower by 0.86% at 4,787.18 points.
    

 (Reporting by Noah Sin; Editing by Aditya Soni)
 ((Noah.Sin@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2841 5782; Reuters
Messaging: noah.sin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; Twitter: https://twitter.com/noah_sin))