HSI upbeat ahead of Dragon exit

Staff reporter

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied 0.66 percent on the penultimate trading day of the Year of the Dragon, bringing the rise for the year to over 27 percent.

The Hang Seng Tech Index edged up 0.64 percent to 4,687 points.

The best gainer among blue chips was Hang Lung Properties (0101), which jumped by 4.3 percent to HK$6.21 per share.

Mainland stocks, on the other hand, fell on the final trading day before the Chinese New Year holiday but still ended the Year of the Dragon with a 13 percent gain, reversing a three-year losing streak.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3,230 points, a decrease of 0.06 percent. The SZSE Component Index ended at 10,156 points, down 1.33 percent, while the ChiNext index closed at 2,063 points, dropping 2.73 percent.

While the banking and artificial intelligence sectors showed gains, other areas, such as direct-attach copper cables and robotics, faced losses.

Despite the downturn on the final trading day, mainland stocks overall performed positively across the year. The Shanghai Composite Index increased by over 13 percent, the Shenzhen Component Index rose by nearly 15 percent, and the ChiNext Index gained almost 20 percent.

Meanwhile, the onshore yuan closed at 7.265 per US dollar, down 238 pips from the previous close.