Hong Kong shares close higher on US rate cut hopes

Hong Kong shares closed higher on Monday, boosted by the increased likelihood of a further US rate cut in December.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 1.97 percent, or 496 points, to 25,716.

The China Enterprises Index grew by 1.79 percent to 9,079, and the Hang Seng Tech Index increased by 2.78 percent to 5,545.

The total turnover reached HK$302.6 billion, marking the highest for this month.

Alibaba (9988) jumped around 5 percent, as its new artificial intelligence assistant Qwen app drew more than 10 million downloads in one week. 

Kuaishou Technology (1024) surged the most among the blue chips, rising by nearly 7 percent, followed by NetEase's (9999) 5.3 percent growth.

Innovent Biologics (1801) gained 5.44 percent, as it will be added to both the HSI and the CEI on December 8. Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology's (9863) shares also rose 5.84 percent after saying it will be included in the HSTI.

Guangzhou Automobile Group (2238) skyrocketed nearly 12 percent on its plan to commence mass production of embodied AI robots in 2027.

In contrast, chip shares dropped on Nvidia's possible H200 chip sales to China, with Hua Hong Semiconductor (1347) and SMIC (0981) slipping 4.91 percent and 1.09 percent, respectively.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.06 percent at 3,836, and the Shenzhen Component Index also closed 0.37 percent higher at 12,585.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended down 2.4 percent amid Sino-Japanese tensions, South Korea’s Kospi fell for the second consecutive day by 0.19 percent, and Taiwan’s market inched up 0.16 percent.