Hong Kong shares rise as upbeat Fed outlook boosts global risk mood

16 Dec, 2021

Hong Kong shares rose on Thursday after an upbeat economic outlook from the US Federal Reserve boosted global risk sentiment, while the healthcare sector jumped more than 3% to snap a four-day slump.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 54.74 points, or 0.23%, at 23,475.50. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.08% to 8,349.65.

** The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and pave the way for three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 as the economy nears full employment and the US central bank copes with a surge of inflation.

** The subindex of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 3.7%, the financial sector ended 0.08% higher and the property sector rose 0.71%.

** Healthcare shares gained, led by a 11.3% jump in WuXi Biologics (Cayman) Inc on plans to repurchase shares. WuXi shares marked their biggest one-day rise since Oct. 2020, after slumping more than 19% on Wednesday.

** WuXi was the top gainer on the Hang Seng, while the biggest loser was Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd, which fell 4.58%.

** The IT sector trimmed earlier losses to end the day down 0.44%. The Hang Seng Tech index

** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.75% at 3,675.02 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 0.58%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.42%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.13%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.3665 per US dollar at 08:10 UTC, 0.02% firmer than the previous close of 6.368.

Read Comments