Hong Kong shares rise; China Evergrande boosts property stocks

Hong Kong shares ended higher on Wednesday as sharp gains in China Evergrande Group boosted property stocks, after the developer secured investments to ease some of its liquidity crunch worries. ** Hong Kong-listed shares of China Evergrande surged 20% in the late afternoon trading, after the developer secured support from its investors amid mounting liquidity crunch concerns.

Hong Kong shares ended higher on Wednesday as sharp gains in China Evergrande Group boosted property stocks, after the developer secured investments to ease some of its liquidity crunch worries. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 183.52 points or 0.79% at 23,459.05. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 1.25% to 9,397.37. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.3%, while the IT sector rose 2.08%, the financial sector ended 0.08% higher and the property sector rose 2.03%. ** Hong Kong-listed shares of China Evergrande surged 20% in the late afternoon trading, after the developer secured support from its investors amid mounting liquidity crunch concerns. ** Hong Kong's financial markets will be closed for National Day on Thursday, Oct. 1 and for the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday Oct. 2. Markets will resume trading on Monday, Oct 5. ** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.2% at 3,218.05 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.1%. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.05%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 1.5%. ** The yuan was quoted at 6.8102 per U.S. dollar at 0822 GMT, 0.07% firmer than the previous close of 6.8149.