The Hang Seng Index jumped 0.8 per cent to 15,877. 92 at 3.40pm local time, erasing a drop of as much as 1.2 per cent, as the city’s financial markets reopened after a two-day break. The Tech Index rallied 2.2 per cent. Financial markets in mainland China are closed for the entire week for the holiday.
Tencent jumped 1.1 per cent to HK$290.40 while Alibaba Group added 2.2 per cent to HK$70.80 and Meituan surged 5.6 per cent to HK$71.10. Casino operator Galaxy Entertainment soared 3.9 per cent to HK$44.50, and Trip.com surged 4.3 per cent to HK$316.80 on bets Lunar New Year holidaymakers will lift their businesses.
The turnaround gave the Year of the Dragon a promising start. Since its inception, the city’s benchmark index has never had a losing year during the zodiac year, according to Bloomberg data, with gains ranging from 0.5 per cent to 33.4 per cent.
The Year of the Rabbit, which ended on February 9, was a miserable one for the local market as the Hang Seng Index slumped by a record 29 per cent.
Local stocks suffered a setback in early trading. MSCI deleted 66 Chinese stocks from its Global Standard indices in its February review in the biggest cut in at least two years, while adding five new members, it said on Monday. India gained most from the revision among Asia-Pacific companies, as five new stocks joined the benchmarks.
Major Asian markets were on the backfoot, tracking overnight losses in New York. The Nikkei 225 in Japan and the S&P ASX 200 Index both declined by 0.7 per cent, while the Kospi in South Korea tumbled 1.1 per cent.