Beijing stimulus hopes push Hong Kong stocks higher

Hong Kong shares rose on Wednesday bolstered by optimism Beijing will pursue more stimulus measures this year to prop up a cooling economy, while investors watched for developments in the Sino-U.S. trade talks. The Hang Seng index rose 0.3 percent to 29,037.60, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.1 percent to 11,592.03 points.

China's state planner said on Wednesday the government will implement measures to further boost domestic consumption this year. Beijing announced billions of dollar in tax cuts and infrastructure spending on Tuesday to reduce the risk of a sharper economic slowdown. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he thought the United States and China were "on the cusp" of a deal to end their trade war. Pompeo added on Tuesday that "Things are in a good place, but it's got to be right."

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.8 percent, while the IT sector rose 0.23 percent, the financial sector added 0.25 percent and the property sector advanced 0.87 percent. The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Wharf Real Estate Investment Company Ltd, which rose 6.32 percent, while the biggest loser was China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, which fell 2.35 percent. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was 0.13 percent firmer, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.6 percent. 

The yuan was quoted at 6.7109 per U.S. dollar at 08:30 GMT, 0.03 percent weaker than the previous close of 6.7088. The top gainers among H-shares were ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd, up 6.4 percent, followed by Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd, which gained 2.91 percent and China Resources Land Ltd that rose by 2.83 percent. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Telecom Corp Ltd, which fell 3.89 percent, China Vanke Co Ltd, which eased 1.5 percent and CNOOC Ltd , which lost 1.5 percent.

(With inputs from agencies.)