Hong Kong shares end higher as investors eye Fed meeting in interest rates

Shares in Hong Kong closed higher on Wednesday as investors bet on the U.S. Federal Reserve to take a pause in hiking interest rates and China to step up efforts to boost decades-low growth. At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 0.4 per cent at 27,642.85 points, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.3 per cent.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares ended 1 per cent firmer, while the IT sector closed 0.5 per cent higher, the financial sector ended 0.3 per cent higher and the property sector rose 1.1 per cent. Investors in the interest rate-sensitive Hong Kong market will be closely watching the U.S. Federal Reserve's press conference on Thursday afternoon (Eastern Time) after officials conclude their policy meeting.

Economic indicators appear to suggest that central bank could hold off from a hike this week as signals of a global slowdown mount. To spur growth, China on Tuesday unveiled a flurry of measures aimed at boosting sales of items ranging from cars and appliances to information services.

Shares of China BlueChemical Ltd jumped as much as 11.2 pct after the company said it expects strong growth in 2018 earnings, while Evergrande Health Industry Group Ltd rose as much as 7 pct after announcing its plan to buy a Swedish supercar company. Jiayuan International Group Ltd, which spooked investors earlier this month over debt worries and a plunge in share price, jump as much as 21.9 pct upon resuming trading.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, which gained 4.9 per cent, while the biggest drag was AAC Technologies Holdings Inc, which dropped 2 per cent. China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.7 per cent at 2,575.58 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.8 per cent lower, amid worries about China's slowing economic growth.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.4 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.52 per cent. The yuan was quoted at 6.7129 per U.S. dollar, as of 0809 GMT, 0.28 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.7320. ** The top gainers among H-shares were China Vanke Co Ltd, which closed 3.7 per cent firmer, followed by China Resources Land Ltd, which ended up 3.6 per cent, and Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, which closed 3.5 per cent higher.

The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Guangdong Investment Ltd, which ended down 2.6 per cent, Sinopharm Group Co Ltd, which closed 2.4 per cent lower and Huaneng Power International Inc, which ended down 2.2 per cent. About 1.88 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly the same as the volume traded in the previous trading session.

At the close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 16.93 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The short and one-factor leveraged Hang Seng index, which is designed to replicate the payoff of a short or leveraged portfolio and is linked to the movements of the Hang Seng Index, was lower by 0.4 per cent on the day at 4,999.69 points.