Tech Shares Put On A Show, Lift HSI

Local tech shares helped send the Hang Seng Index nearly 2 percent higher on Thursday ahead of a long weekend, after Japan and South Korea reported strong economic data and US President Joe Biden unveiled his massive infrastructure plan to prop up the world's largest economy.

The Hong Kong benchmark started the first trading day of April up 216 points and buying accelerated towards the end of the session. It gained 560 points to close at 28,938, on turnover of HK$178.2 billion.

For the week, the index rose 2 percent.

The day's blue-chip winner, Meituan, continued its climb as it recovered from the bruising price target trimming by several banks earlier this week, soaring 9.3 percent.

Other major tech firms also shone. Heavyweight Tencent surged 7.2 percent. Alibaba and Xiaomi each jumped more than 2.5 percent.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing also rebounded from a late plunge the day before over reports of a new mainland bourse. The local exchange operator gained 2.4 percent after its released a consultation paper on easing rules for secondary listings.

Markets across the border shrugged of a private survey showing the mainland's factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in almost a year last month, a day after an official survey painted a rosier picture on the manufacturing sector.

The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.7 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.2 percent. The Shenzhen Composite put on 1.1 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, the Nikkei added 0.7 percent with a new survey showing business confidence in Japan returning to pre-pandemic levels. The Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.9 percent following the announcement that the country's export grew in March at its fastest pace since 2018. Australia ticked up 0.6 percent. Taiwan gained 0.9 percent. Singapore was up about half a percent.