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Hong Kong stock market
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Hong Kong stocks rise on optimism about foreign investors buying local assets

Demand for assets boosted the local dollar, prompting the HKMA to intervene in the foreign exchange market to protect its trading band

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Exchange Square in Central. Photo: Jelly Tse
Cao Li
Hong Kong stocks rose for a fourth day amid signs of capital inflows, as foreign investors bought local assets and prepared funds for new stock offerings, which helped push the city’s dollar to the strong end of its trading band.

The Hang Seng Index rose by 0.7 per cent to close at 22,662.71 on Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.1 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index closed with a 1 per cent gain, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.1 per cent. Local markets were closed for a public holiday on Monday.

Alibaba Group Holding climbed 1.5 per cent to HK$123.80, while bottled water producer Nongfu Spring surged 7 per cent. Macau casino operator Sands China jumped 5.3 per cent to HK$14.96 and peer Galaxy Entertainment added 2.78 per cent HK$29.60. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group rose 7 per cent to HK$10.98 and food-delivery platform operator Meituan advanced more than 3.6 per cent to HK$137.30.
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The city’s currency strengthened over the past week, prompting the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to intervene for the third time in four days to keep it within its trading band. The intervention came amid gains in regional currencies, fuelled by a flight from US dollar assets.

“The recent strength of the Hong Kong dollar is mainly driven by increased demand for the currency related to equity investment activities,” the HKMA said, after selling its own currency late on Friday in New York. The HKMA sold a record HK$60 billion (US$7.74 billion) on Tuesday.

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Before Tuesday, the Hang Seng Index had pared its decline to 3 per cent since April 2 when US President Donald Trump rolled out his tariffs against the nation’s trading partners, reserving the biggest hike for China. The setback erased HK$67 billion of market value from the index members in that span.

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