Hang Seng Index reaches all-time high
By Hui Ching-hoo (China Daily)Updated: 2007-06-19 08:42 Galvanized by the influx of foreign capital and possible A-share listing of China Mobile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) yesterday leaped 2.69 percent, closing at an all-time high of 21,582.
Following a rally in the US market, HSI yesterday opened sharply higher and climbed rapidly in the morning session, rising 465 points to 21,482. China Enterprise Index, which tracks the performance of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies, closed at 11,926, increasing 482 points, or 4.22 percent, in the early session.
HSI finally closed at 21,582, increasing 565 points, or 2.69 percent. China Enterprise Index settled at 11,866, increasing 422 points, or 3.69 percent.
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HSI constituents and mainland banking stocks all went up. Heavyweight insurers and lenders Ping An Insurance and China Construction Bank advanced 11 percent and 7 percent respectively in the early trading secession.
Mainland telecommunication carrier China Mobile, which was rumored to initiate its A-share listing plan next month, saw its shares jump HK$4.55, or 6 percent, hitting a record high of HK$80.35.
The surge of the largest mainland telecom carrier alone helped the HSI to rise 200 points. Other mainland telecom stocks were as bullish. China Unicom rose HK$0.98, or 8.14 per cent, to HK13.02.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China soared 4.47 percent and 3.64 percent, reaching HK$4.44 and HK$3.99. China Life settled at HK$26.95, rising 4.66 percent.
Analysts attributed the rally mainly to the reshuffle of investors' portfolio and "window decoration" for fund managers.
Castor Pang, strategist of Sung Hung Kai Financial Group, said the flow of capital from the A-share market significantly pushed up the index. "Mainland capital began to veer to banking and finance-related shares in Hong Kong via QDII (qualified domestic institutional investors)."
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