Hong Kong stocks rise on hopes of pandemic peak

Shenzhou International group

09/04/2020 09:32

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 100%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used -0.2%
    * HSI +1.4%, HSCE +1.3%, CSI300 +0.3%
    * FTSE China A50 +0.1%

    April 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks finished higher on
Thursday, in line with broad gains in other Asian markets on
hopes the new coronavirus pandemic may be approaching a peak.
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  closed up 329.96 points or
1.38% at 24,300.33. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index
 .HSCE  rose 1.33% to 9,811.12.
    ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 1.8%, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT  rose 1.14%,
the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.8% higher and the property
sector rose 1.6%.  
    ** MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index  .MIAPJ0000PUS  rose
1.52% while Japan's Nikkei index  .N225  slipped 0.04%. 
    ** Helping broader sentiment was New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo's statement that the state's efforts at social distancing
were working to get the virus under control in one of the
biggest hot spots in the United States.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2BW0BB 
    ** U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen
the U.S. economy with a "big bang" but that the death toll from
the coronavirus first needs to be heading down.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2BW1OM  
    ** Also providing support were stimulus measures as Hong
Kong on Wednesday announced measures worth HK$137.5 billion
($17.7 billion) to help businesses and people hurt by the
coronavirus outbreak as the city joins global efforts to cushion
the impact of the pandemic. [nL4N2BW2W9} 
    ** The impact of the novel coronavirus on Hong Kong's
tourism sector is unprecedented and the city can hope to start
seeing things returning to normal by July, in part by trying to
develop new markets, the head of the tourism board told Reuters.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BW1ME 
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.0577 per U.S. dollar
at 0820 GMT, 0.1% firmer than the previous close of 7.0651. 
    ** At the close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium
of 25.78% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

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