Hong Kong stocks climbed on Tuesday morning to an all-time peak, underpinned by a combination of gains in financial and IT firms as well as record highs on Wall Street after US senators struck a deal to end a three-day government shutdown.
At 04:03 GMT, the Shanghai Composite index was up 22.28 points or 0.64 per cent at 3,523.64. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.58 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 1.41 per cent, the consumer staples sector down 0.32 per cent, the real estate index up 2.53 per cent and healthcare sub-index down 0.29 per cent.
Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 1.63 per cent to 13,420.17, while the Hang Seng Index was up 1.18 per cent at 32,775.88. The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.12 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.1 per cent.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.67 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 1.10 per cent. The yuan was quoted at 6.398 per US dollar, 0.11 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.405.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Henan Yuguang Gold & Lead Co Ltd up 9.89 per cent, followed by Sichuan Langsha Holding Ltd gaining 8.55 per cent and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd up by 7.03 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Kama Co Ltd down 7.34 per cent, followed by Shanghai Huili Building Materials Co Ltd losing 7.26 per cent and Shanghai Lingyun Industries Development Co Ltd down by 6.86 per cent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 5.87 per cent, while China's H-share index is up 12.8 per cent. Shanghai stocks have risen 5.87 per cent this month.
The top gainers among H-shares were China Merchants Bank Co Ltd up 3.13 per cent, followed by Agricultural Bank of China Ltd gaining 2.94 per cent and China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd up by 2.69 per cent. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Railway Construction Corp Ltd off 1.47 per cent, Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co Ltd losing 1.3 per cent and Huatai Securities Co Ltd down by 1.3 per cent.
About 12.64 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 72.4 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 17.46 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 21.75 billion as of the last full trading day. As of 04:03 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 28.12 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 15.9 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.8 per cent. So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 0.50 per cent to 30.79 trillion yuan.
In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares rose 0.6 per cent, while the IT sector rose 1.4 percent. The top gainer on Hang Seng was Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd up 8.91 per cent, while the biggest loser was Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd which was down 1.50 per cent.