Hong Kong stocks jump as UBS sees big fund inflows amid state support plans

Name: US President Donald Trump softens tone on possible China tariffs
Uploaded: 2025-01-27T02:53:51.000Z
Duration: 2 min 31 s
Description: US President Donald Trump softens tone on possible China tariffs

UBS estimates US$236 billion of fund inflows in 2025 as a result of Beijing’s directive to funds to shore up the capital markets

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Pedestrians crossing a street in Shanghai as an electronic billboard shows key stock indexes on January 21, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Yulu Ao

Published: 10:53am, 27 Jan 2025Updated: 4:56pm, 27 Jan 2025

Hong Kong stocks rose, setting the market up for a winning month, as investors bet on big fund inflows after China stepped up efforts to defend the nation’s financial markets from the impact of US tariff measures.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.7 per cent to 20,197.77 on Monday, bringing this month’s gain to 0.6 per cent. The Tech Index added 1.4 per cent. The city’s benchmark gauge had a winning January every year since 2021, except for a 9.2 per cent slump last year.

Benchmarks in onshore markets weakened before a week-long Lunar New Year holiday, with Shanghai Composite Index surrendering all of its 0.7 per cent gain. The index and the CSI 300 gauge of stocks listed in Shenzhen and Shanghai both lost 3 per cent in January.

Baidu led the rally in Hong Kong with a 3.2 per cent surge to HK$84.15, while Alibaba Group climbed 2.9 per cent to HK$87.20. Macau casino operator Galaxy jumped 3.3 per cent to HK$32.80, while travel operator Trip.com added 1.8 per cent to HK$551 and smartphone maker Xiaomi appreciated 0.8 per cent to HK$37.15.

Swiss investment bank UBS said China’s plan to inject more long-term capital into its stock market could inject 1.7 trillion yuan (US$236.2 billion) of inflows from insurers, mutual funds and social-security funds.

02:31

US President Donald Trump softens tone on possible China tariffs

The China Securities Regulatory Commission unveiled on Sunday additional measures to scale up index-linked products while the nation’s financial-market agency named a batch of insurers to support its programme. Beijing’s last week announced plans to direct more mutual and insurance funds into equities to pre-empt US policy attacks.