Hong Kong, Shanghai shares rise on oil rally

HONG Kong stocks climbed 0.29 percent Tuesday while Shanghai surged 2.45 percent, boosted by a rally in oil prices and hopes for fresh economy-boosting measures by China’s leaders.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index added 70.04 points to 24,554.78 on turnover of HK$80.31 billion ($10.36 billion).

US investors provided a strong lead, thanks to a pick-up in the price of oil that came on the back of data showing the number of rigs drilling had tumbled. Both West Texas Intermediate and Brent contracts enjoyed a boost in buying after plunging about 60 percent since June.

On Wall Street the Dow rallied 1.14 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.30 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.89 percent.

Shanghai’s advance also helped buying sentiment after soft manufacturing data on Sunday and Monday highlighted weaknesses in the Chinese economy and increased talk of more stimulus from Beijing.

The market gains “could be on expectations of some policy easing” after the manufacturing figures, Audrey Goh, a Singapore-based investment strategist at Standard Chartered, told Bloomberg News.

“I won’t be surprised to see more easing measures,” she said.

Energy firms were big winners, with CNOOC adding 3.50 percent to 10.64, PetroChina up 1.90 percent at HK$8.60 and Sinopec rallying 1.81 percent to HK$6.18.

Among other firms, HSBC rose 0.35 percent to HK$71.50, China Life surged 4.52 percent to HK$31.25 and New World Development put on 0.65 percent to end at HK$9.36.

In mainland China the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged by 76.61 points to 3,204.91 on turnover of 283.4 billion yuan ($45.3 billion).

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, rose 2.02 percent, or 30.33 points, to 1,533.22 on turnover of 222.7 billion yuan.

“The market has seen some wide-ranging fluctuations in the past month, and the rebound today is normal following falls yesterday,” Sun Jianbo, Beijing-based strategist with China Galaxy Securities, told AFP.

The Shanghai index has dropped 0.92 percent so far this year to Tuesday, following a more than 50 percent rise in 2014.

Shanghai-listed financial stocks recovered following earlier losses.

China Minsheng Bank rose 2.07 percent to 9.36 yuan and Bank of Beijing gained 1.89 percent to 10.23 yuan, despite recent reports that officials of both banks have been implicated in corruption cases.

China Life Insurance jumped 9.03 percent to 36.72 yuan, while Haitong Securities gained 6.12 percent to 20.63 yuan.

Among Shanghai-listed energy firms PetroChina added 4.19 percent to 11.69 yuan, Yanzhou Coal gained 4.01 percent to 13.75 yuan and China Shenhua was 3.24 percent up at 19.13 yuan.

In Shenzhen Guoyuan Securities surged 9.70 percent to 32.22 yuan and newly listed Wanda Cinema Line surged by its 10 percent daily limit to 65.89 yuan.