Hong Kong stocks track mainland higher on policy cheer

Hong Kong stocks on Monday tracked gains on the mainland, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises index posting its best day in three months, as investors cheered Beijing's latest policy support for its capital markets.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 530.55 points or 2.2pc at 24,649.68.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 2.71pc to 9,878.74, posting its best daily gain since July 6.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.6pc, while the IT sector advanced 3.23pc, the financial sector ended 2.14pc higher and the property sector climbed 1.11pc.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Xiaomi Corp , which gained 8.35pc, while the biggest loser was Hengan International Group Company Ltd, which fell 1.6pc.

China's state council published on Friday the Opinion on Further Improving the Quality of Listed Companies, which includes exploring more long-term evaluation mechanisms for institutional investors to attract more mid and long-term funds.

Guotai Junan Securities noted in report that the opinion will help boost risk appetite.

Though analysts urged caution given uncertainties for the short term.

Entering October, there are still strong uncertainties around the US election and the development of the coronavirus outbreak, analysts at Guodu Hong Kong said in a report.

The brokerage added the Hang Seng index faced strong resistance around the 24,500-point level.

China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 2.64pc at 3,358.47 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 3.03pc.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.33pc, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.26pc.

The yuan was quoted at 6.735 per US dollar at 0834 GMT, 0.62pc weaker than the previous close of 6.6932.