| HONG KONG, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies led the Hong Kong stock market higher Tuesday in a volatile session that led to blue-chips giving up most of an early 1,000-point advance on news China is relaxing its control on overseas equities investments.
The Hang Seng Index finished up 133.72 points, or 0.62 percent, at 21,729.35 Tuesday, after trading between 21,651.40 and 22,616.85. Turnover totaled 116.80 billion HK dollars Tuesday, up from 105.33 billion HK dollars Monday.
The Hang Seng Index opened higher and skyrocketed 1,021.22 points in early trade. But traders started taking profits and the index pulled back from late morning.
Analysts said they expect the local market will stay choppy in the near term, with the benchmark index trading in a range of at least 500 points in the coming sessions.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China??s foreign exchange regulator, said Monday individuals in the mainland can invest directly in Hong Kong-listed securities.
Shares of Hong Kong-listed Chinese bank and insurance companies advanced Tuesday on hopes they would benefit from mainland investors buying shares in Hong Kong.
Tianjin Branch of Bank of China and Bank of China HK were designated as the pilots to handle direct investment in Hong Kong stocks.
Bank of China ended 3.4 percent higher at 3.90 HK dollars, after hitting an intraday high of 4.23 HK dollars. It was the day??s third most heavily traded stock, with 6.26 billion HK dollars worth of shares changing hands.
China Mobile and China Life were the other heavily traded stocks. China Life, the largest Chinese insurer by premiums, rose 3 percent to 31.10 HK dollars, on hopes mainland investors entering the Hong Kong market will buy shares of well-established mainland companies. China Mobile gained 0.6 percent to 88.40 HK dollars, after touching an intraday high of 92.55 HK dollars.
Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing, the operator of the city??s stock and futures exchange, was the best-performing blue-chip, rising 6.2 percent to close at 123.30 HK dollars, off an intraday high of 129.10 HK dollars, on expectations it will benefit from higher trading volumes as mainland investors buy Hong Kong shares |
