HK shares close higher in half-day session

Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Wednesday in a half-day session, buoyed by a regional rally in holiday-thinned trade.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 44 points, or 0.17 percent, to 25,818, with a turnover of HK$92.5 billion.

The tech gauge also edged up 0.19 percent to 5,499.

SMIC (0981) jumped 3.12 percent, as it reportedly has price hikes of around 10 percent on some of its production capacity.

HSBC (0005) continued to rise to a new high, up over 1 percent to HK$123.8.

As gold, silver, and copper prices all touched record highs, Zijin Mining (2899) closed nearly 1 percent higher.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.07 percent to 3,919 by midday, while the Shenzhen Component Index increased 0.27 percent to 13,368.