Local Shares Snap Three-day Losing Streak

The Hong Kong benchmark headed north on Friday to end three consecutive days of losses, while a rebound on Wall Street helped push most regional shares higher too.

The Hang Seng Index opened higher, and survived a brief dip into negative territory, to finish 308 points, or 1.1 percent, higher at 28,027.

Market turnover was HK$$150.9 billion.

The blue-chip index was down 2 percent for the week.

Heavyweight financials fared well during the day, with HSBC rising 2 percent.

Insurance firm AIA was up by 6.3 percent, after it reported that the value of its new business in the first quarter jumped 19 percent year-on-year.

Positive first quarter results also helped push Apple supplier AAC Technologies up 4.3 percent.

Investors also favoured drugmakers, with CSPC Pharmaceutical climbing more than 10 percent to become the top gainer on the benchmark. Sino Biopharmaceutical rallied 3.5 percent.

But Alibaba sank four percent, after the e-commerce giant reported a 7.7 billion yuan operating loss – its first since going public in 2014 – because of a record antitrust fine by Beijing regulators.

Across the border, financials and healthcare companies lifted the blue-chip CSI300 index up 2.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite each put on 1.8 percent.

Most markets around the region closed in positive territory – with the Nikkei up 2.3 percent, and Seoul and Taiwan gaining 1 percent each.

But shares in Singapore tumbled 2 percent, as the city-state tightened social distancing measures to curb a rising number of local infections.