Hong Kong shares close higher on bargain hunting

Hong Kong stocks rebounded on Wednesday after falling to their lowest level in more than a year in the previous session, as bargain hunters bought the dips on tech and financial shares.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.8% to 23,658.92, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.7% to 8,426.24.

** The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.5%. Food delivery company Meituan rebounded from an almost eight-week low, rising 2.8%, and Tencent Holdings gained 2.1%.

** However, Alibaba Group extended losses and closed down 1.3%. The tech giant has lost more than 20% after it missed quarterly revenue expectations and forecast a slow growth.

** Financials climbed 1% after three consecutive sessions of declines.

** Energy shares jumped 2.7%, with Chinese coal miners leading the gains, buoyed by supply concerns as coal imports from Mongolia were disrupted by the recent outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

** Hong Kong-listed gambling stocks tumbled for a third straight day, weighed down by the arrests of 11 people in Macau over alleged links to cross-border gambling and money laundering.

** Worries over a crackdown in the world's largest gambling hub grew as embattled gambling group Suncity Group Holdings closed all of its VIP gaming rooms in Macau after its chairman was arrested.

** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.1%, as traders decided Tuesday's declines, which sent the benchmark to its lowest since November 2020, had gone too far.