Hong Kong stocks rally after mainland stamp duty cut

HONG KONG, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks rallied for a fourth day on Thursday on the heels of a Chinese mainland stamp duty cut announced after the market close Wednesday, which pushed the mainland market to soar about 9 percent.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 487.05 points, or 1.93 percent, to open at 25,776.29 and narrowed its gains modestly to close at 25,680.78, up 1.55 percent.

Mainland-based chips, especially the insurance sector, led the gains, with China Life and Ping An both surging to contribute block rises to the Hang Seng Index.

The key barometer of the market moved between 25,603.57 and 25,861.68. Turnover added 24.96 billion HK dollars (3.20 billion HK dollars) to reach 130.26 billion HK dollars (16.70 billion U.S. dollars), in sharp contrast to the lackluster turnover readings over the past weeks.

Some of the market analysts said they expected the blue chip index to test 26,000 for the next round while others thought badly of the stamp cut and warned of potential risks ahead arising from an irrational mainland market.

Market heavyweight China Mobile added 1.1 HK dollars, or 0.82 percent, at 136 HK dollars, whereas HSBC Holdings edged to 130.7 HK dollars, down 0.99 percent.

The finance sub-index gained the most among the four major categories, rising 694.42 points, or 1.88 percent, to close at 36,985.26.

China Life, the mainland-based insurance giant that has suffered losses over past months, surged 2.5 HK dollars, or 7.99 percent, to conclude at 33.8 HK dollars, contributing 80.88 points alone to the rise of the Hang Seng Index.

Ping An soared even more, up 6.9 HK dollars, or 10.45 percent, at 72.95 HK dollars, contributing 42.22 points to the gains of the Hang Seng Index.

Bank of China extended its rally to close at 3.85 HK dollars, up 0.02 HK dollars, or 0.52 percent, while BOC Hong Kong lost 0.75 percent at 19.9 HK dollars.

Oil giant Petro China surged 0.54 HK dollars, or 4.78 percent, to close at 11.84 HK dollars, still far below its highest level over the past 12 months. Sinopec trailed with gains of 3.44 percent, outperforming the blue chip index.

The commerce and industry category added 226.59 points, or 1.54 percent, at 14,738.53, and the properties sub-index trailed with arise of 1.39 percent.

The utilities genre turned out the only loser, down 1.09 percent to close at 43,705.49. Hong Kong-based utilities chips were generally less glamorous than the mainland-based stocks, with some even losing ground.

HK and China Gas lost 0.05 HK dollars to close at 22.2 HK dollars, while HK Electric wend down 0.5 HK dollars, or 1.03 percent, at 48 HK dollars.

Cheung Kong lost 0.1 HK dollars at 121.6 HK dollars while SHK Properties, the residential developer in the southern Chinese special administrative region, added 1.3 HK dollars, or 0.96 percent, at 136.3 HK dollars. (7.8 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)