HSI ends week higher on vaccine optimism

2021-02-05 HKT 16:55″ title=”Kuaishou shares nearly tripled on their Hong Kong debut as local stocks finished the week on a positive note. Image: Shutterstock”>

Kuaishou shares nearly tripled on their Hong Kong debut as local stocks finished the week on a positive note. Image: Shutterstock

Local shares climbed along with most of their regional peers on Friday, after the Nasdaq and S&P rose to record highs overnight as vaccine progress spurred investors confidence on the speed of the global economy recovery.

The Hang Seng index took the lead from Wall Street and opened higher, jumping almost 400 points in the morning.

The index trimmed its gains in the afternoon to close up 175 points or 0.6 percent at 29,288, on market turnover of HK$239.4 billion.

Mainland video app firm Kuaishou, or “quick hands”, had a strong debut, finishing the day at HK$300, almost tripling its IPO price of HK$115. Shares reached as high as HK$345 during trading.

But Xiaomi continued to sink after it clarified that its Android-based operating system that comes without Google Mobile Services for mainland customers will not allow the downloading of the services. It lost 1.25 percent, and Alibaba slipped 1.6 percent.

Gaming shares had a good day. Galaxy Entertainment Group surged 6.3 percent to become the blue-chip winner, having touched a new high of HK$68.25 during trading. Sands China jumped 4 percent.

Markets across the border were mixed. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 percent, but the blue-chip CSI300 index inched up 0.2 percent. The Shenzhen Composite Index retreated 0.9 percent.

Around the region, Tokyo’s Nikkei put on 1.5 percent. The Kospi in South Korea added 1.1 percent. Taiwan advanced 0.6 percent to wrap up its last trading day ahead of the Lunar New Year in positive territory. Australia gained 1.1 percent. Singapore added 0.1 percent.