The Hang Seng Index jumped 1.1 per cent to 16,433.86 as of 11.18am local time to climb out of the five-week low. The Tech Index added 0.9 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 per cent to four-month high.
Insurance company AIA rallied 3.6 per cent to HK$48.50 and peer Ping An added 5.5 per cent to HK$31.80. Macau casino operator Sands China jumped 1.8 per cent to HK$19.38 and rival Galaxy Entertainment gained 2.5 per cent to HK$35.05.
“Valuation and sentiment are bombed out. This creates conditions for a substantial rally in Chinese shares, but sustainability is harder to determine,” Gary Tan and Derrick Irwin, portfolio managers at Allspring Global Investments said in a note on Wednesday.
Despite today’s gain, the Hang Seng Index still has lost 1.4 per cent this week, heading to the worst week in over two month, as China’s shaky economic data, Fed’s hawkish stance on rate outlook and rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sapped risk appetite.
But some investors fragile market sentiment was not likely to sustain the momentum. “China is very much a second-half of the year story”, according to Stefanie Holtze-Jen, chief investment officer for Asia-Pacific at Deutsche Bank Private Bank.
Offsetting some of the gains were losses e-commerce group JD.com which eased 2 per cent to HK$96.80. Oil stocks PetroChina and CNOOC retreated by 1 to 2.2 per cent.
Other major Asian markets were broadly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4 per cent.