HK stocks brush near four-year high to kick off last week of August

Hong Kong shares briefly touched a near four-year high on Monday, following Wall Street’s rally after United States Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell hinted at a potential interest rate cut in September.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index surged as much as 579 points to 25,918 before closing 490 points up, a 1.93 percent rise, at 25,829.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 168 points, or 1.85 percent, to 9,248 while the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 177 points, or 3.14 percent, to close at 5,825.

Turnover on the main board was HK$369.6 billion.

Following last Friday’s Hang Seng Index quarterly review, China International Capital Corporation estimated that newly added blue-chip stocks Pop Mart (9992), China Telecom (0728), and JD Logistics (2618) could attract fund inflows of about US$450 million (HK$3.51 billion), US$160 million, and US$68.7 million, respectively, totaling roughly US$679 million.

On Monday, the three stocks rose 1.5 percent, 0.32 percent, and 7.3 percent, respectively.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index climbed for a fourth consecutive session, closing at 3,883 points, up by 57 points or 1.51 percent. The Shenzhen Component Index rose for a second straight day, closing at 12,441 points, up 275 points or 2.26 percent.

The combined turnover of the two bourses totaled 3.14 trillion yuan (HK$3.42 trillion).

STAFF REPORTER