Hong Kong shares close 1.43pc higher

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed 1.43 percent higher on Friday following a strong bond auction in Spain and better-than-expected jobs data in the United States.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 258.55 points to 18,285.39 on turnover of HK$54.34 billion ($6.95 billion).

Chinese shares closed 2.01 percent higher. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 43.94 points to 2,224.84 on turnover of 50.6 billion yuan ($8.0 billion).