HSI Surges Above 29,000 On US Spending Deal

Local and regional shares edged higher on Friday, spurred by a rare bipartisan agreement between the White House and US lawmakers on infrastructure spending to stimulate the world's largest economy.

The Hang Seng Index opened more than 100 points higher and the upward momentum soon gained further steam, with tech shares helping to drive the benchmark above 29,000. The index finished the day up 405 points, or 1.4 percent, at 29,288.

Market turnover was HK$157 billion.

For the week, the blue-chip index gained 1.7 percent.

Meituan extended gains, soaring 4.8 percent to become the day's top winner on the benchmark.

Tencent and Alibaba each jumped more than 2.5 percent. Xiaomi put on 1.3 percent.

PetroChina advanced 3.2 percent as oil prices continued to rise. CNOOC added 2.6 percent. But Sinopec bucked the trend to edge down 0.5 percent.

Mainland telco firms also outperformed. China Mobile advanced 2.5 percent, China Unicom was 2.1 percent higher, and their peer China Telecom surged 8.5 percent after a a shareholder bought more shares.

Across the border, the Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.2 percent, while the CSI300 index was 1.6 percent higher. The Shenzhen Composite rose 1.1 percent.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei in Japan inched up 0.7 percent. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.5 percent. Shares in Taiwan and Sydney were about 0.5 percent firmer. Singapore was little changed.