HSI closes above 30,000 as tech plays shine

Local shares rallied on Wednesday, the last full trading day before the Lunar New Year, as heavyweights Tencent and Meituan soared to new highs.

The Hang Seng Index opened 320 points higher, with the rally gathering steam during the day to propel the benchmark to finish up 562 points, or 1.9 percent, at 30,038.

Turnover was at HK$176 billion.

The top blue-chip gainer was Meituan. The Chinese delivery platform jumped to a historic high of HK$436.60 before paring some of the gains to close 5.2 percent higher at HK$430.4.

Tencent topped its previous record as well to touch a new high of HK$770 after Nomura raised its price target for the WeChat operator and mainland authorities approved one of its games. The heavyweight ended the day up 2.8 percent, at HK$761.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing climbed 3.8 percent to HK$534, a day after it announced the appointment of JP Morgan executive Nicolas Aguzin as its new chief executive.

Kuaishou Technology continued its upward momentum and soared 13.2 percent.

Kerry Logistics Network rose 5.5 percent following the announcement that mainland courier giant SF Holdings is buying a major stake in the firm.

Markets across the border were buoyant as well.

The CSI300 index scaled 13-year highs despite an easing of consumer prices on the mainland, as factory gate prices rose for the first time in a year. The blue-chip index closed 2.1 percent higher.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.4 percent after reaching a five-year high and the Shenzhen Composite added 1.75 percent.

Most markets elsewhere in the region continued to be bolstered by upbeat corporate earnings and optimism over a huge US fiscal stimulus.

The MSCI’s index on Asian shares outside of Japan rose past its previous record reached last month.

Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.2 percent. The Kospi in South Korea and Australia’s ASX200 each put on 0.5 percent. But Singapore was down 0.4 percent.