Hong Kong stocks rise as US-China trade war fears ease

China, Hong Kong stocks end sharply lower as trade war, weaker confidence bite.

ONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks rose on Monday, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Washington's trade war with Beijing was put "on hold", easing trade tensions that had damped risk appetite.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent, to 31,234.35, while the China Enterprises Index was unchanged at 12,349.61 points.

The United States and China agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement, Mnuchin said on Sunday. 

China has agreed to significantly increase its purchases of U.S. goods and services, the two countries said on Saturday, but made no mention of a $200 billion target the White House had touted earlier.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.4 percent, while the IT sector dropped 0.22 percent; the financial sector was 0.92 percent higher and the property sector rose 0.22 percent. 

The top gainer on Hang Seng was WH Group Ltd, up 5.11 percent, while the biggest loser was China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd, which was down 4.09 percent. 

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.31 percent. 

The yuan was quoted at 6.3875 per U.S. dollar at 08:19 GMT, 0.17 percent weaker than the previous close of 6.3767. ** As of the previous trading session, the Hang Seng index was up 3.77 percent this year, while China's H-share index was up 5.5 percent. 

As of the previous close, the Hang Seng has risen 0.78 percent this month. 

The top gainers among H-shares were China Gas Holdings Ltd , up 8.65 percent, followed by Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd gaining 2.6 percent and Hengan International Group Company Ltd up by 1.45 percent.

 The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd, which was down 4.09 percent, China Resources Land Ltd, which fell 2.4 percent, and China Citic Bank Corp Ltd, down by 1.9 percent. 

About 1.65 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 95.8 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.72 billion shares a day.

The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.78 billion. 

At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 22.06 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. - Reuters