Hong Kong’s daily stock trading soars to record US$57 billion as market rally gathers legs

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The city’s benchmark index advanced 13 per cent this week, the best weekly gain since 1998 in a US$440 billion bull run

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Sculptures of bulls are seen outside the building that houses bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing in Central. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Jiaxing Li

Published: 10:06am, 27 Sep 2024Updated: 6:15pm, 27 Sep 2024

Hong Kong stocks surged for the fourth day amid record trading volume, reclaiming the 20,000 floor and registering the best week in 26 years as a buying spree went into overdrive after Beijing injected fresh fuel into the Chinese economy.

The Hang Seng Index jumped 3.6 per cent to 20,632.30 at the close of Friday trading, the highest level since April 2023. That brings the gain this week to 13 per cent, as the best rally since a 14.9 per cent jump in October 1998 restored more than US$440 billion in value to local stocks.

Total transaction volume surged to HK$445 billion (US$57 billion) on Friday, the highest on record, according to Bloomberg data that goes back to 1992. The Tech Index jumped 5.8 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.9 per cent to a four-month high.

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding advanced 4.9 per cent to HK$102.50, rival JD.com surged 9.7 per cent to HK$152 and online travel agency Trip.com rallied 12.6 per cent to HK$474. New World Development jumped 21.6 per cent to HK$9.96 as trading resumed after a management reshuffle.

“We have seen one of the busiest periods from our clients in recent years across Asian equities, and notably across mainland China and Hong Kong stocks,” said Paul Smith, Citi’s head of markets for Japan, Asia North and Australia. “These latest measures have provided fresh impetus into the market, and we see it continuing given ongoing investor interest.”

In the latest move to boost the economy, the People’s Bank of China cut the reserve requirement ratio for all banks by 50 basis points on Friday to “create a favourable monetary and financial environment” for stable economic growth, the central bank said in a statement.