Hong Kong stocks finish up 1.43pc

HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks ended 1.43 percent higher on Friday, following the lead of other major markets after central banks moved to inject dollars into banks threatened by the eurozone debt crisis.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 273.81 points at 19,455.31 on turnover of HK$71.56 billion ($9.20 billion).

However analysts warned the index will likely stay in a range of 19,000-19,800 over the next two weeks as the uncertainties over the global economic recovery will continue to be a major weight on sentiment.

The European Central Bank and its US, Japanese, Swiss and British counterparts announced Thursday they would act in concert to lend dollars to banks facing a shortage of the American currency.

The move sent European stocks global stocks soaring.

In Hong Kong shipping firm Cosco Pacific rose 4.6 percent to HK$9.50, after falling 25% since August 1 on concerns over global trade.

Heavyweight HSBC was up 3.1 percent at HK$64.60, after falling 18 percent since the beginning of August and conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa added 1.1 percent to HK$67.35, after dropping 27 percent in the same period.

Chinese shares closed up 0.13 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, gained 3.29 points to 2,482.34 on turnover of 49.6 billion yuan ($7.8 billion).

"The joint action boosted regional markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, which helped lift sentiment on the domestic bourse," Deng Wenyuan, an analyst at Soochow Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

However, gains were capped as investors chose to stay on the sidelines due to worries over corporate earnings growth during a domestic economic slowdown and lingering inflation pressure.

China's consumer price inflation retreated slightly to 6.2 percent in August, down from a three-year high of 6.5 percent in July but still well above the government's comfort zone.

This has fuelled expectations that China will maintain its tight monetary policy.

Heavyweight banks bounced back from recent losses. ICBC gained 0.5 percent to 4.10 yuan after it lost 2.4 percent in the previous three sessions, while Bank of Communications rose 0.9 percent to 4.63 yuan after losing 1.7 percent in the same period.

Airlines declined on profit-taking. China Southern Airlines dropped 1.4 percent to 7.27 yuan and Air China shed 0.6 percent to 8.69 yuan.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011