Oil surge helps Hong Kong stocks settle higher

• At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 194.27 points, or 0.84pc, at 23,280.06.
• The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 1.29pc to 9,526.56.
• The yuan was quoted at 7.0988 per US dollar at 08:33 GMT, compared with the previous close of 7.099.

SHANGHAI: Hong Kong stocks erased earlier losses to close higher on Thursday, led by energy shares as crude oil futures jumped on hopes for a deal to end the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 194.27 points, or 0.84pc, at 23,280.06.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 1.29pc to 9,526.56.

Both indexes lost more than 1pc in morning trade on fears of a deep global recession due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 7.1pc, as crude oil futures surged after US President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their price war and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a solution to "challenging" oil markets.

The IT sector rose 1.33pc, the financial sector ended 0.07pc lower and the property sector gained 0.36pc.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was PetroChina Co Ltd , which jumped 9.68pc, while the biggest loser was Techtronic Industries Co Ltd, which fell 3.03pc.

China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 1.69pc at 2,780.64 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 1.62pc.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.45pc, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 1.37pc.

The yuan was quoted at 7.0988 per US dollar at 08:33 GMT, compared with the previous close of 7.099.

China, where the coronavirus outbreak first erupted in December, logged fewer new infections, but measures restricting movement have been tightened in some parts of the country due to fears of more imported cases.

At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.43pc over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.