HK shares end firmer as global stimulus hopes lift risk mood

Hong Kong shares climbed on Monday, in line with global peers, as hopes for a fresh rollout of stimulus measures from major central banks to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus underpinned sentiment. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 448.81 points or 1.88% at 24,280.14. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 2.27% to 9,875.59, its best daily performance since March 25. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.9%, while the IT sector climbed 1.38%, the financial sector ended 1.89% higher and the property sector rose 2.29%. ** Investors in Hong Kong are hunting for bargains, in particular stocks with high dividend yields such as Chinese banks, said Zhang Qi, analyst with Haitong Securities. Banking shares are at their low valuation since Hang Seng index dropped by more than 16% in Q1, Zhang added.

** Hong Kong-listed shares of Bank of Communications ended 3.84% higher, while Agricultural Bank of China climbed 3.23%. ** The market is expecting the government to unveil a stimulus package after the first week of May to further counter the economic hit from the pandemic, said Xiao Shijun, an analyst at Guodu Securities. ** Sentiment also improved on expectations that the rescheduled date for this year's plenary session of the National People's Congress is likely to be announced soon, Xiao added. ** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.25% at 2,815.49 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.68% higher. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 1.75%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.71%. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.0851 per U.S. dollar at 0826 GMT, 0.01% weaker than the previous close of 7.0823.