INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Thursday, led by energy shares, after oil prices hit their highest since late 2014 as US crude inventories
declined and as top exporter Saudi Arabia pushes for higher rates by continuing to withhold supplies.
The Hang Seng index ended 1.4 per cent
higher at 30,708.44 points, while the China Enterprises Index closed up 2.1 per cent at 12,239.84 points.
Energy shares jumped over 4 per
cent in Hong Kong after a Reuters report that Opec's new price hawk Saudi Arabia would be happy for crude to rise to $80 or even $100, a
sign Riyadh will seek no changes to a supply-cutting deal even though the agreement's original target is within sight
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking IT sector rose 1.34 per cent, while the financial sector was 1.31 per cent higher and property
sector rose 0.86 per cent
The top gainer on Hang Seng was WH Group Ltd up 6.51 per cent, while the biggest loser was AIA Group Ltd , which slipped 0.87 per cent
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.91 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.15 per cent
The yuan was quoted at 6.2761 per US dollar at 0812 GMT, 0.03 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.2745
As of previous session, the Hang Seng index was up 1.22 per cent this year, while China's H-share index was up 2.4 per cent
As of previous close, the Hang Seng has risen 0.63 per cent this month
The top gainers among H-shares were Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd up 6.05 per cent, followed by PetroChina Co Ltd gaining 5.69 per cent
and China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd up by 4.45 per cent
The three biggest H-shares per centage decliners were Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd, which was down 2.94 per cent, Air China
Ltd, which fell 1.4 per cent and China Gas Holdings Ltd that dropped 1.1 per cent
About 2.29 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 124.7 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.84 billion
The volume traded in the previous trading session was 2.06 billion
At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 21.58 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Hang Seng index was 12.41 as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was 3.2 per cent.
