Hong Kong stocks close at 9-month high on upbeat China data

Hong Kong stocks ended at a nine-month high on Friday, gaining for the fourth week in a row, tracking mainland strength as upbeat profits from industrial firms pointed to a continued recovery in China's economy.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.3pc to 26,894.68, its highest closing level since Feb. 21, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.8pc to 10,790.30 points.

For the week, HSI rose 1.7pc, while HSCE climbed 2.2pc, both posting their fourth week of gains in a row.

October profits at Chinese industrial firms rose 28.2pc to 642.91 billion yuan ($97.79 billion) compared with a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, pointing to a steady recovery in the manufacturing sector after it was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

China's factory activity likely expanded at a slightly faster pace in November, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, as the world's second-largest economy steadily recovers from the coronavirus crisis.

"Overall, we believe China's economic recovery remains largely on track and maintain our real GDP growth forecast of 5.7pc y-o-y for Q4, up from 4.9pc in Q3. We firmly believe Beijing will maintain its policy stance," analysts at Nomura said in a note on Friday.

China's monetary policy has become more normalized, which could weigh on shares of developers and other companies with high debt levels, but could bode well for banking and insurance firms, KGI Securities noted in a report.

The brokerage added the benchmark Hang Seng index would face resistance around the 27,000-point level.

The Hang Seng financials index gained 3.7pc for the week, its fourth straight weekly gain.

China's central bank said on Thursday it would make prudent monetary policy more flexible and targeted, and reiterated it would not resort to flood-like stimulus.