HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares edged higher on Tuesday, buoyed by modest gains in Chinese financial names, although turnover remained weak and is likely to keep benchmark indexes rangebound into year-end.
Financials as a whole were relative outperformers, with AIA Group Ltd among the top boosts on the Hang Seng Index , up 2.9 percent. Among Chinese financials, China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) gained 0.4 percent.
The Hang Seng Index was up 0.54 percent at 18,168.61 by the midday trading break, while the China Enterprises Index of the top mainland listings in Hong Kong gained 0.63 percent.
"If you assume the Chinese economy is slowing and not due for a hard landing, then I think Chinese banks are the pick of the crop among large caps for investors," said Linus Yip, an equity strategist with First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.
Lingering doubts about their exposure to bad debts in the mainland, mainly to local governments and the property sector, have kept many investors away despite attractive valuations.
Valuations were driven to historic lows by a heavy selloff in the third quarter as the euro zone debt crisis and signs of a possible slowdown in the US economy intensified fears of a hard landing for the world's second-largest economy.
While a gain of about 14 percent this quarter has lifted CCB off an historic low valuation, the mainland's second-largest lender is still trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple that is a 50 percent discount to its historical median, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine.
PROPERTY STRENGTH LIFTS SHANGHAI
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.16 percent to 2,221.7 points by midday in the highest midday A-share turnover since Dec. 2, led by strength in the property sector.
The Shanghai property sub-index was a relative outperformer, up 0.9 percent with the mainland's top two property developers seeing healthy gains.
Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd gained 2 percent while Shenzhen-listed China Vanke Co Ltd was up 1.9 percent, both in midday volumes that exceeded their respective 30-day averages.
A prominent mainland financial newspaper reported in a front page article on Tuesday that a second consecutive month of foreign exchange outflows from China was creating "more room for monetary policy flexibility".
This has renewed anticipation among some investors of fresh policy easing in the near term.
Such speculation has been rife in the past week as the Shanghai Composite tumbled to consecutive 33-month lows last week, breaking below several long-term support levels on the charts.
On Monday, the Shanghai benchmark bounced off a fresh intraday 33-month low, suggesting the benchmark could now be supported in the near term at around 2,200.
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