Hong Kong stocks hit near 3-week high as financials rebound

Hong Kong shares touched a near three-week high on Wednesday, led by a rebound in heavyweight financial stocks, and as a regional sell-off in equities ran out of steam towards the end of the trading session.

Hong Kong shares touched a near three-week high on Wednesday, led by a rebound in heavyweight financial stocks, and as a regional sell-off in equities ran out of steam towards the end of the trading session.

** The Hang Seng index closed up 1.4% at 25,244.02, near its highest level since July 23 hit earlier in the session. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.6%.

** Index-heavy financial sector added almost 2% and the property sector jumped 2.2%. Energy shares rose 1% while the TECH index lost 1.7%.

** Banking shares have been rising globally as yields rebounded on U.S. treasuries, and Hong Kong lenders have been lagging peers in other markets due to U.S.-China tensions, said Edison Pun, senior market analyst at Saxo Capital Markets.

** "People have been especially skeptical on this sector here... (yields rebound) triggered short-covering," he added.

** Hong Kong's currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar and its policy rate moves lock-step with the Federal Reserve.

** Global banks have been scrutinizing their clients amid U.S. sanction threats over the city's autonomy, a key sticking point in Washington's tussle with Beijing.

** China will bring up Tiktok, Wechat and discuss the yuan exchange rate during trade talks this week with the United States, Bloomberg reported.

** MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by just 0.1%

** About 1.76 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, more than the previous session's 1.63 billion.