HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares ended 1.06 percent higher on Friday, in line with regional markets and following a strong lead from Wall Street.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 243.39 points to close at 23,158.67 on turnover of HK$86.60 billion ($11.11 billion).
The index, which is up 3.9 percent over the week, was boosted by a 0.70 percent gain on the Dow in New York after strong US jobs data.
Dealers were also in buying mood thanks to better than expected results from state run Bank of China, which lifted hopes for strong earnings from other large Chinese lenders.
However, analysts said concerns over eurozone sovereign debt, the nuclear crisis in Japan and unrest in Libya will continue to weigh on investors.
Bank of China rose 2.6 percent to HK$4.27 after reporting Thursday a 29 percent rise in 2010 net profit, while BOC Hong Kong rose 2.1 percent to HK$24.40 after it reported net profit last year rose 16 percent.
Bank of Communications was up 2.1 percent at HK$8.26, China Construction Bank rose 2.0 percent to HK$7.32 and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gained 1.9 percent to HK$6.37.
China Coal fell 3.0 percent to HK$10.22.
Chinese shares closed up 1.06 percent, with the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, adding 31.10 points to 2,977.81 on turnover of 171.1 billion yuan ($25.9 billion).
"The Shanghai index's performance this week has beaten our expectations," Zhang Zhuo, an analyst at Minsheng Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"According to our survey of fund managers last week, they are very worried because the country's economic growth could slow due to falling auto sales and fresh property tightening measures," Zhang said.
Bank of China ended up 1.8 percent at 3.35 yuan while China Merchants Bank jumped 2.1 percent to 14.30.
Property developers also rose because of their low valuations, with large-cap developers trading around 12 to 13 times their 2010 earnings. The nation's biggest listed developer China Vanke rose 2.7 percent to 8.72 yuan.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.