Hong Kong shares recouped earlier losses to end higher on Tuesday, as stronger mainland Chinese markets offset the impact of disappointing US economic data.
Mainland markets snapped a five-session losing streak, buoying investor sentiment in Hong Kong.
“But I won't expect the gains to be sustained as the Hang Seng index failed to breach the 25,000-point resistance level,’’ said Sam Chi Yung, a strategist at Delta Asia Financial Group in Hong Kong.
Data showed US consumer spending recorded its biggest decline since late 2009 in December, while the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector slowed in January more than expected.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.3 per cent to 24,554.78 points, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.6 per cent to 11,768.58 points.
Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong’s main board were Chaoda Modern Agriculture Holdings Ltd, down 30.0 per cent at HK$0.42; China Jinhai International Group Ltd, up 8.6 per cent at HK$0.06; and Bank of China, up 0.7 per cent at HK$4.32.
Chinese investment flowing from Shanghai into Hong Kong through the mutual market access pilot programme took up 0.26 billion yuan ($41.55 million) of the 10.5 billion yuan daily quota.
Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.6 billion shares.
($1 = 6.2570 Chinese yuan)