Hong Kong stocks jumped over 2 percent on Wednesday, as defensive stocks, including mainland banks and insurers, are becoming new investment darlings.
The market benchmark Hang Seng Index closed at 23,640 points, 532 points or 2.3 percent higher than Tuesday, marking a new high since March 25.
The full-day main board turnover rebounded 1.4 percent to HK$219.8 billion from one day ago.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index marched upward by 2.5 percent to 8,593 and the Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 2.13 percent to 5,381.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index increased 0.86 percent to 3,403 points, standing above the 3,400-point bar again after over one and a half months. The Shenzhen Component Index rebounded 0.64 percent to 10,354.
Chinese banks and insurers jumped in both markets. Ping An (2318) and China Construction Bank (0939), the fifth and sixth most traded stocks in Hong Kong today, climbed 4.2 and 2.07 percent respectively. Ping An rose 4.25 percent in Shanghai, while CCB edged down 0.11 percent after recording a 0.7 percent gain.
The influx into banks and insurers may be associated with the latest regulatory easing of restrictions on mainland insurers in equity investments, mainland media reported. The new rules requiring Chinese public offered fund managers to link their income with fund performance may also push the institutional investors to the high-yield stocks, according to reports.
Tencent (0700) gained 3 percent to close HK$521 apiece before releasing its first-quarter earnings today.
The tech giant is estimated to post an 18 percent jump in net profit and a 10 percent rise in total revenue for the first three months of the year.
STAFF REPORTER
