HK stocks close 162 points higher

The Hang Seng Index closed up by 162 points or 0.82 percent, at 19,883 points, with a turnover of HK$127.3 billion. 

Mainland banks supported the market, with China Construction Bank (0939) rising 2.89 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398) up 4.96 percent, and Bank of China (3988) increasing 2.64 percent. 

Other financial stocks also performed well, including HSBC Holdings (0005), which rose 1.15 percent after announcing plans to sell its French life insurance business, AIA (1299) up 1.19 percent, Ping An Insurance (2318) rising 1.98 percent, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) gaining 0.54 percent.

Large tech stocks showed mixed performance. Tencent (0700) fell 1.45 percent, Alibaba (9988) rose 1.12 percent, Meituan (3690) declined 1.89 percent, Xiaomi (1810) increased 0.32 percent, JD.com (9618) gained 1.6 percent, and Kuaishou Technology (1024) dropped 0.7 percent.

The China Enterprises Index rose by 69 points or 0.97 percent, closing at 7,213 points, while the Technology Index gained 13 points or 0.3 percent, ending at 4,457 points.