Hong Kong stocks edge higher on recovery hopes

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong stock market edged up on Tuesday, buoyed by hopes of economic and corporate earnings recovery, though concerns over a fresh wave of domestic coronavirus cases kept gains in check.

The Hang Seng index closed up 0.7pc at 24,772.76. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.8pc.

The Hang Seng sub-index tracking the financial sector edged down 0.1pc and the property sector lost 0.3pc.

Hong Kong stocks tracked the rise in regional stocks on Tuesday, led by technology stocks, as investors wagered on upbeat earnings reports due this week.

The city's new TECH index jumped 3.5pc on Tuesday.

The local market also benefitted from the gains in mainland Chinese A-shares, which rose most in a week on signs of recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

While Sino-US tensions continued to weigh, the market has already priced in a lot of risks coming before the November US presidential election, Essence Securities' analysts wrote in a note.

Hong Kong is attempting to contain a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases.

The government banned dine-in services and made face masks mandatory in all public places this week.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index frimed 0.8pc.

About 1.36 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded.

The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.49 billion.

At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 31.85pc over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.