HK stocks achieve three-year high thanks to tech sector gains

Hong Kong stocks ended this week at a three-year high on the extended frenzy surrounding China’s tech sector.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 900 points or 4 percent to 23,460 points on Friday, the highest since February 2022. The full-day main board turnover increased to HK$393.59 billion.

For the whole week, the indicator rose 3.91 percent.

Tech shares continued to be the day's main driver, with the Hang Seng Tech Index jumping 6.5 percent to 5,859 points.

Alibaba (9988), revealing a 333 percent surge in its October-December quarterly net profit on Thursday, rushed to a new high after November 2021. The e-commerce giant saw its Hong Kong-listed shares soar 14.56 percent to HK$138.50 apiece.

Citibank and JP Morgan expect Alibaba to growth further to HK$166 and HK$165 per share respectively.

The sentiment spread to other Chinese tech companies as well. Online video platform Bilibili (9626) jumped more than 16 percent.

Telecommunications firm ZTE (0763) surged by over 17 percent. China Unicom (0762) and Lenovo (0992) climbed more than 15 percent and China Telecom (0728) went up 12.75 percent.

China’s chipmaking giant Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (0981) gained 7.86 percent.

Tencent, posting the second-largest trading volume on Friday, also increased by more than 6 percent.

STAFF REPORTER