Hang Seng Index pares most gains in afternoon on Thursday

Hong Kong stocks pared most of their earlier gains on Thursday, as investors assessed the impact of the Middle East conflict and China’s economic targets.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose nearly 500 points at one point in the morning trading session, before paring the rise to 71 points, or 0.3 percent, to 25,321 points at close.

The market turnover dropped to HK$321.9 billion. 

Financial stocks led the increase, with AIA (1299) rising more than 5 percent to become the biggest winner among blue-chip stocks. HSBC (0005) also climbed 2.3 percent.

The Hang Seng Tech Index, however, further declined by 0.7 percent to 4,796 points, with Alibaba (9988) losing 2.7 percent.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to 4,108 points and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index was up by 1.2 percent to 14,088 points.