Hong Kong stocks track broader Asia higher on White House transition, vaccine hopes

Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Tuesday, tracking other Asian markets, as sentiment was lifted globally after a federal agency gave U.S. President-elect Joe Biden the go-ahead to begin his White House transition and on progress on a COVID-19 vaccine. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 102.00 points or 0.39% at 26,588.20.

Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Tuesday, tracking other Asian markets, as sentiment was lifted globally after a federal agency gave U.S. President-elect Joe Biden the go-ahead to begin his White House transition and on progress on a COVID-19 vaccine.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 102.00 points or 0.39% at 26,588.20. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.51% to 10,612.58. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.1%, while the IT sector dipped 0.26%, the financial sector ended 0.45% higher and the property sector rose 1.24%.

** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which gained 4.03%, while the biggest loser was WuXi Biologics (Cayman) Inc, which fell 4.17%. ** U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he had told his team "do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols", after a U.S. federal agency that must sign off on the presidential transition told Biden on Monday that he can formally begin the hand-over process.

** The progress made on COVID-19 vaccines, which had underpinned Wall Street overnight, helped keep risk appetite elevated as it boosted optimism about a quicker revival for the global economy. ** AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine, cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale-up than its rivals, could be as much as 90% effective.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.79%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.5%. ** The yuan was quoted at 6.5746 per U.S. dollar at 08:11 GMT, 0.16% firmer than the previous close of 6.585.

** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 43.03% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.