Hong Kong stocks end higher, but trade tensions cap gains

Hong Kong stocks edged higher on Wednesday, but gains were capped by rising trade worries following reports that the United States could blacklist another Chinese tech firm.

** The Hang Seng index rose 0.2%, to 27,705.94 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.3%, to 10,604.55 points. ** The U.S. administration is considering Huawei-like sanctions on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision, media reports show, deepening worries that trade friction between the world's top two economies could be further inflamed.

** That came after the U.S. Commerce Department blocked Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from buying U.S. goods last week. ** Beijing is ready to resume trade talks with Washington, China's ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said, as a top U.S. business lobby in China said nearly half its members are seeing non-tariff barrier retaliation in China due to the trade war.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.17%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.05%. ** The yuan was quoted at 6.906 per U.S. dollar at 08:18 GMT, 0.05% weaker than the previous close of 6.9028.

** The top gainers among H-shares were Huatai Securities Co Ltd, up 1.94%, followed by China Tower Corp Ltd, gaining 1.69%, and China Telecom Corp Ltd, up by 0.77%. ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd, which was down 1.83%, Hengan International Group Company Ltd, which fell 1.7%, and China Communications Construction Co Ltd, down by 1.5%.

** About 1.76 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 98.9% of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.78 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 2.30 billion. ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 24.31% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.