Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closes 3% higher as Asian stocks rise

SINGAPORE – Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose on Thursday, with Hong Kong stocks leading the gains.

In its last hour of trading, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong jumped 3.07%, as shares of Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba rose 5.6% and 7.28% respectively.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese Estates, formerly the majority shareholder of struggling developer China Evergrande, jumped 31.72% after announcing on Wednesday it had received a privatization offer.

The broader real estate sector also rose, with the Hang Seng Properties index jumping 1.98% to 30,506.05.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.76% to close at 2,959.46 while Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.96% on the day to 16,713.86. Australian stocks were also higher, with the S & P / ASX 200 rising 0.7% to end the trading day at 7,256.70.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.54% to close at 27,678.21 while the Topix index dipped 0.12% to 1,939.62.

The largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities excluding Japan rose 1.87%.

Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the holidays on Thursday.

Overnight in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.32 points to 34,416.99 while the S&P 500 gained 0.41% to 4,363.55. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.47% to 14,501.91.

These gains on Wall Street are due to growing optimism about a deal on the US debt ceiling. Global markets have had a choppy start to October so far amid fears of rising rates and inflation.

The benchmark yield on 10-year US Treasuries recently crossed 1.5% and stayed well above that level, last standing at 1.5155%.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 94.138 after hitting a previous high of 94.282.

The Japanese yen was trading at 111.29 per dollar, stronger than the levels above 111.6 seen yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7297 after yesterday’s rebound below $ 0.724.

Oil prices were down in the afternoon of trading hours in Asia, as international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.2% to $ 80.11 a barrel. US crude futures fell 1.91% to $ 75.95 a barrel.