Hong Kong stocks track Asia higher

Hong Kong shares closed higher on Thursday, in line with other Asian markets, as investors cheered economic recovery in the United States and other developed markets.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 133.42 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 28,755.34. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.46 per cent to 10,939.12.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.1 per cent, the financial sector ended down 0.37 per cent, while the IT sector rose 1.63 per cent, and property sector was up 0.07 per cent.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Meituan, which gained 3.47 per cent, while the biggest loser was Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, which fell 1.78 per cent.

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The push-pull of that trading dynamic comes as vaccination rates in Britain and other countries continumARKETSe to improve and pandemic-weary citizens embrace more freedoms to drive economic growth, something reflected in some recent corporate earnings.

However, worries over Sino-US tensions hurt sentiment.

A bipartisan US congressional push to counteract China picked up steam on Wednesday as a Senate committee overwhelmingly backed a bill pressing Beijing on human rights and economic competition and other lawmakers introduced a measure seeking billions for technology research.

China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.23 per cent at 3,465.11 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.19 per cent.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.36 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.38 per cent.

The yuan was quoted at 6.4886 per US dollar at 2:09 pm, 0.03 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.4903.

At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 34.05% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.