Local Shares Rally On Assurance From Fed

Local tech shares staged a comeback on Wednesday to lead a rebound on the Hang Seng Index, after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell soothed nerves that a spike in inflation could prompt rate hikes.

The Hang Seng Index rose by 158 points at the open, with the upward momentum gaining steam in the afternoon session.

The index eventually ended 507 points, or 1.8 percent, higher on turnover of HK$156.6 billion.

The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 2.7 percent to lead the broader market.

Meituan jumped 5.2 percent, Alibaba added 2.1 percent, while Tencent and Xiaomi each advanced more than 1 percent.

Carmakers also shone. Geely Auto rallied 5.8 percent and BYD Company was up 3 percent.

But the blue-chip winner was Sunny Optical, which soared almost 7 percent.

Across the border, the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.3 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index gained 0.5 percent. The Shenzhen Composite put on 0.8 percent.

Markets elsewhere in the region were mostly higher as US treasury yields and the greenback eased on the assurance from the Fed.

South Korea's Kospi was 0.4 percent higher, Taiwan rose 1.5 percent, Singapore gained 0.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei was flat. But Australia slipped 0.6 percent.