Hong Kong shares close higher on HSBC's earnings beat

Techtronic Industries Co

03/05/2019 09:45

* Hang Seng +0.5 pct, H-shares +0.2 pct; China closed for
holiday
    * HSBC  0005.HK  rallies on profit; local unit declares
dividends
    * U.S. jobs data due; Wall St dragged by overnight losses in
oil

    HONG KONG, May 3 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares ended higher
on Friday, after heavyweight HSBC Holdings Plc's earnings beat
estimates, lifting sentiment on an otherwise quiet day as
mainland Chinese markets remained closed for a holiday.
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 0.5 percent
at 30,081.55. The benchmark climbed 1.6 percent week-on-week.
** The Hang Seng China Enterprises index  .HSCE  rose 0.2
percent. The index gained 0.6 percent this week.
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking the financial
sector  .HSNF  ended 0.8 percent higher, the property sector
sub-index  .HSNP  rose 0.5 percent, while energy shares  .HSCIE 
dipped 0.7 percent and the IT sector  .HSCIIT  lost 0.3 percent.
** HSBC  HSBA.L  beat forecast with a 31 percent rise in first
quarter profit, bolstered by a surge in income from its core
Asian business and lower costs that outweighed a poor
performance from investment banking.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N22F0MU
** Hong Kong-listed shares of the bank  0005.HK  climbed as much
as 2.9 pct, a seven-month high, after the results. The stock was
the second-most traded in early afternoon trade.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N22F0SS
** Shares of Hang Seng Bank Ltd  0011.HK , part of the HSBC
group, rose as much as 2.6 pct to HK$209.80, their highest since
Oct. 10, after the lender declared higher interim dividend.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N22F0W7
** China financial markets are shut for Labour Day holiday.
Trading will resume on Monday, May 6.
** To mark the ascension of Japan's new emperor, the government
had declared an unprecedented 10-day holiday from late April to
early May. Japan markets will be back in action on May 7.
** On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P gave up initial gains and
turned negative on Thursday as the energy sector  .SPNY 
weakened.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N22E6AY
** Global investors await the release of April's U.S. nonfarm
payrolls, due later on Friday, which probably increased by
185,000 jobs last month after rising 196,000 in March, according
to a Reuters survey of economists.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N22E1H0
** Techtronic Industries Co Ltd  0669.HK , up 4.3 percent, was
the top gainer on the Hang Sang index, while CNOOC Ltd
 0883.HK , which fell 1.6 percent, was the biggest loser. 
**  The top gainers among H-shares were China Railway Group Ltd
 0390.HK , up 2.5 percent, followed by Shenzhou International
Group Holdings Ltd  2313.HK  and Conch Cement Co Ltd  0914.HK ,
that gained 2.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
** About 1.26 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The
volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.34 billion.

 (Reporting by Noah Sin; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((noah.sin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
noah.sin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))