Hong Kong stocks hit a five-month high on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments on the US economy and rising interest rate hike expectations sent Wall Street to record highs. The benchmark Hang Seng index climbed to the highest since September 9 in intraday trading and settled 1.2 percent up, at 23,994.87 points. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index closed at the highest since November 2015, up 1.8 percent, to 10,436.04 points.
Financial stocks rose 1.9 percent at the close to an 18-month high. Hong Kong tracks US interest rates closely due to a currency peg to the greenback. Sustained southbound inflows through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect also lent some support. Mainland investors used 2.7 billion yuan ($393.1 million) on Wednesday, or 25.6 percent of the daily quota, compared with an average of less than 11 percent in January. Wong expects the trend to continue.
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