Hang Seng Index surges nearly 900 points at close

Hong Kong stocks skyrocketed nearly 900 points on Thursday as market sentiment lifted after the US mid-term elections, led by tech and gold gains.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index surged 877 points, or 3.67 percent, to 24,796 points, with a full-day turnover reaching a nearly three-month high at HK$356.6 billion.

The Hang Seng Tech Index went back to the 4,000-point mark, up 5.55 percent to 4,154 points.

Tech heavyweights supported the market, with Alibaba (9988) and Tencent (0700) rising 8.5 and 7.2 percent, respectively.

NetEase (9999) jumped 9 percent, marking the second-largest growth among HSI components, followed by 8.9 percent and 8.8 percent increases for automakers Nio (2015) and Xiaomi (1810).

Notably, Sino Biopharmaceutical (1177) logged the biggest gain among blue chips, up 9.2 percent, after disclosing it had entered into an option and license agreement with Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim for six preclinical oncology programs that could generate US$7 billion (HK$54.6 billion) a day before.

Gold-related shares also delivered strong performance along with the recovering gold prices. Laopu Gold (6181) climbed 8.3 percent, while Zijin Ming (2899) advanced 3 percent.

However, Lenovo's (0992) shares have been on a roller coaster this week. After rebounding 6 percent a day ago, it fell 6.8 percent at the close, marking the worst performer among blue chips.

The laggards, oil majors PetroChina (0857) and CNOOC (0883), dropped 4.2 percent and 2.1 percent, as the fresh Democrats' victory in the midterm election raised hopes for an end to the Iran war.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index inched up 0.1 percent to 3,689 points, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index increased 1.19 percent to 11,471 points.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓