HK stocks rise with bargain hunting

HK stocks rise with bargain hunting
Bargain hunting in local developers and Chinese banks sent Hong Kong shares higher Monday, marking the Hang Seng Index's second consecutive rise. The blue-chip index rose 138.62 points, or 0.77 percent, to 18,059.55 after trading between 17,906.39 and 18,398.92 during the session. Turnover fell to 62.69 billion HK dollars (8.10 billion U.S. dollars) from Friday's 62.91 billion HK dollars (8.13 billion U.S. dollars). Analysts said the local market is likely to rebound further in the near term after last week's 5.1 percent fall, supported by fund inflows and an improving outlook for China's economy. Local property companies led gains in the blue-chip index. Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 3.4 percent to 92.85 HK dollars after The Standard reported Monday the company generated 100 million HK dollars (12.92 million U.S. dollars) over the weekend from the sale of five premium residences at Sky One, the second phase of its Peak One project. Cheung Kong rose 3.4 percent to 88.90 HK dollars after falling 5.9 percent in the last five sessions, and Sino Land ended 1.6 percent higher at 12.42 HK dollars after shedding 6.4 percent over the same period. Bank of Communications rose 4.8 percent to 7.80 HK dollars after losing 4.6 percent in the previous five sessions, and Bank of China ended 2.0 percent higher at 3.56 HK dollars after falling 6.2 percent over the same period. Heavyweight China Mobile rose 0.4 percent to 76.45 HK dollars, largely unaffected by data showing slowing subscriber growth in May. China Mobile said Monday it added 5.12 million new users in May, down from 5.82 million in April. (7.742 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)