China Bank guides the yuan, Hong Kong stocks performs highest in six months

Hong Kong stocks closed at their highest level in six months on Monday, tracking gains in mainland shares after China's central bank guided the yuan higher by tweaking its currency management mechanism.

The Hang Seng index rose 2.2 percent, to end at 28,271.27 points, the highest since Feb. 14. The China Enterprises Index gained 2.5 percent, to close at 11,049.13 points.

The yuan hovered at a 2-1/2-week high against the U.S. dollar on Monday after the central bank revived a "counter-cyclical factor" in its daily fixing to support the currency, arresting a record 10-week slide that has rattled global markets.

Stocks rose across the board in Hong Kong, with the IT, consumer goods and property indices all up more than 2 percent.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index rose 1.16 percent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.88 percent.

The top gainers among H-shares were Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd with a gain of 6.8 percent, followed by Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd rising 5.19 percent, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp up by 5.05 percent.

The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd which fell 1.68 percent, Guangdong Investment Ltd falling 1.0 percent, and Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd down by 0.5 percent.

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