Hong Kong stocks post biggest weekly gain in nearly 5 months

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Hong Kong stocks rose, with the city’s benchmark logging its biggest weekly gain in nearly five months, taking cues from a global rally

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Exchange Square in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 10:26am, 20 Sep 2024Updated: 4:30pm, 20 Sep 2024

Hong Kong stocks rose, with the city’s benchmark capping its biggest weekly gain in nearly five months, taking cues from a global rally amid optimism that the US economy will achieve a soft landing.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.4 per cent to 18,258.57 at the close. It advanced 5.1 per cent this week, delivering the best performance for a five-day period since April 26. The Hang Seng Tech Index also gained 1.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added less than 0.1 per cent.

Among gainers, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group rallied 6.4 per cent to HK$4.99 after saying it would spend no more than HK$5 billion (US$641.7 million) on repurchasing its shares over the next two years. Alibaba Group Holding added 1.8 per cent to HK$87.20 and Meituan climbed 1.6 per cent to HK$135.90. New World Development surged 6.8 per cent to HK$7.71.

Other major Asia-Pacific markets edged higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.5 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 per cent.

The S&P 500 finished 1.7 per cent higher overnight, achieving its 39th record close this year. A drop in US jobless claims to the lowest point since May revealed resilience in the labour market despite a slowdown in hiring. That alleviated concerns that the Federal Reserve might have been behind the curve in cutting rates on Wednesday.

“Hong Kong stocks may have already bottomed out, judging by the technical pattern and turnover velocity,” said Chen Li, chief economist at Soochow Securities in Shanghai. “The Fed’s cut will lower the corporate funding costs and stimulate the economy. On the other hand, a weak US dollar will leave the door open for more stimulus policies for China’s economy and speed up the recovery in the fundamentals.”