Hong Kong stocks jump to 3-week high as investors await fresh Beijing stimulus

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Biotech firms WuXi Bio and WuXi AppTec soar, while China Mobile slips after making a bid for broadband service provider HKBN

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A person walks past an electronic screen displaying the Hang Seng Index on November 6. AP Photo

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 10:48am, 3 Dec 2024Updated: 4:33pm, 3 Dec 2024

Hong Kong stocks climbed to a three-week high as investors await fresh measures from Beijing to shore up the nation’s economic recovery, outweighing concerns about another trade war after the US imposed on new restrictions on exports of most cutting-edge chip technologies to China.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1 per cent to 19,746.32 at the close, the highest since November 13, while the Tech Index added 0.3 per cent. Onshore benchmark gauges also edged higher, with the CSI 300 Index gaining 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.4 per cent.

Biotech firm WuXi Biologics surged 7.9 per cent to HK$16.72 and affiliate WuXi AppTec soared 6.3 per cent to HK$52.15. Personal-computer maker Lenovo Group rallied 4.1 per cent to HK$9.48.

On the flip side, chipmaker SMIC slumped 1.5 per cent to HK$26.00. China Mobile fell 0.1 per cent to HK$72.25 after making a takeover offer for broadband service provider HKBN for as much as HK$7.8 billion (US$1 billion). HKBN surged 5.6 per cent to HK$5.13.

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