Hong Kong stocks continued to soar on Thursday, with the benchmark Hang Seng index climbing 707. 53 points, or 2.7 percent to end at 26,944.39 points. Turnover hit another record high to 291.53 billion HK dollars ( about 37.47 billion U.S. dollars), as fresh cash from mainland investors flooded the market.
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John C Tsang urged investors on Thursday to be cautious in light of recent market volatility, when responding to a record-breaking rally in the Hang Seng Index over the past two days.
Tsang said the surge was due to a number of reasons, including investors piling back into local stocks from the Easter and Qingming break and mainland investors making use of a link-up between the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges.
Tsang said despite the advance, he could not see the risk of a bubble in the local stock market, but he called on investors to carefully consider the situation before making an investment decision.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 351.78 points, or 2. 63 percent, to close at 13,748.37. Four sub-indices all gained ground, with the Properties sub- index rising the most by 3.7 percent, followed by the Commerce and Industry 2.95 percent, the Finance 2.35 percent and the Utility 1. 73 percent.
Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, rose 0.4 percent at 68.55 HK dollars, while its local unit Hang Seng Bank added 0.7 percent to 142.30 HK dollars.
Local bourse operator HKEX advanced 8.9 percent to 239.60 HK dollars.
Local developers Hang Lung Properties increased 2.9 percent to 23.40 HK dollars. Henderson Land, another major developer in Hong Kong, climbed 4.3 percent to 58.40 HK dollars, and Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, gained 5.3 percent to 165.70 HK dollars.
As for mainland-based financial stocks, China Construction Bank, the country's second largest bank which accounts for the third largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, rose 1.9 percent to 7.02 HK dollars. ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, was up 2.6 percent to 6.21 HK dollars. Bank of China jumped 1.4 percent to 4.91 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, went up 6.5 percent to 9.93 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.761 HK dollars)
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