Hong Kong shares track Asia higher; city takes breather from protests


Reuters | Hong Kong | Updated: 22-11-2019 15:13 IST | Created: 22-11-2019 15:09 IST
Hong Kong shares track Asia higher; city takes breather from protests
Representative image Image Credit: ANI
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  • China

Hong Kong stocks rebounded on Friday, in line with broader Asian peers, on renewed hopes of Washington and Beijing striking a preliminary trade deal and as the Asian financial hub took a breather from political unrest ahead of key elections.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 0.5% at 26,595.08 and posted a weekly gain of 1%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also closed 0.5% firmer on Friday and was up 0.8% on-week. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares ended up 0.8%, the IT sector gained 1.9%, the financial sector ended 0.4% higher and the property sector closed 0.4% higher. Sentiment got a lift after President Xi Jinping said that China wants to work out an initial trade agreement with the United States and has been trying to avoid a trade war, but it is not afraid to retaliate when necessary.

Global equities took a hit earlier this week amid concerns that "phase one" agreement between both the economies will be delayed until next year. The U.S. Congress had passed legislation on Wednesday to back protesters in Hong Kong and threatened China with possible sanctions on human rights. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign this into law in the coming days. A two-day lull in the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, after months of unrest by protesters seeking the freedom to choose their own leader, helped lift sentiment across Asian markets.

A handful of protesters surrendered in the early hours of Friday at a trashed-and-sieged university. The city is, however, holding its breath ahead of elections on Sunday, which carries added significance after brutal attacks on candidates and months of social unrest. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.3%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.3%. About 1.1 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.71 billion. ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.32% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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