HK,Shanghai shares rise on China, U.S. economic hopes
* Hong Kong gains on U.S. data
* Shanghai at three-month high on economic hopes (Updates to close)
By Jun Ebias and Claire Zhang
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares climbed on Friday, spurred by gains on Wall Street and encouraging U.S. data, while shares in Shanghai hit a three-month closing high on optimism about the domestic economy.
China's key stock index closed up 0.28 percent and posted its best weekly rise in more than three months, on expectations that easier monetary policy would remain.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI closed up 1.63 percent, or 350.64 points, at 21,829.72, its highest in more than a week. For the week, the index was up 0.35 percent, rebounding from the previous week's 3.7 percent drop.
Turnover rose to HK$64.43 billion ($8.3 billion from HK$60.77 billion on Thursday.
"It's a straight forward follow-through on Wall Street," said Howard Gorges, managing director at South China Financial. "The pressures came off regarding interest rates after the Fed meeting and we have had good economic data recently in the U.S."
The market may extend gains next week, Gorges added.
"The last couple of weeks, we've been in a dead end, and now we can start to break out. Provided nothing big shakes the market, next week we could break the 22,000 level," he said.
Greens Holdings (1318.HK) ended up 12.3 percent on its trading debut, the third company to rise on its first trading day this week after Chinese developer Evergrande Real Estate (3333.HK) and fashion retailer Trinity (0891.HK).
Evegrande fell nearly 2.55 percent and Trinity shed 3.88 percent as investors pocketed recent gains,
Manulife Financial Corp (MFC.TO) (0945.HK) lost 3.08 percent. North America's largest life insurer said it had a loss of C$172 million ($162 million) in the third quarter. [ID:nN049268]
Bank of East Asia (0023.HK) was up 2.68 percent. The lender rose 3.33 percent on Thursday after a newspaper report that Guoco Group (0053.HK) raised its stake in the bank to 8.01 percent from 7.99 percent. [ID:nHKG80610]
Local developers rose after a sell-off in recent sessions on
concerns Hong Kong may adopt measures to cool property prices,
crimping profit. Sino Land (0083.HK) was up 3.39 percent.
The China Enterprise Index .HSCE of top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks rose 1.66 percent to 13,017.20.
China Unicom (0762.HK) gained for a third day, rising 3.26
percent. The stock has risen 6.2 percent in the last two
sessions, after the Chinese mobile carrier said on Tuesday that
it had signed up more than 1 million 3G subscribers.
CNOOC (0883.HK) was up 3.37 percent. The oil company has agreed to buy a minority stake in four prospects in the Gulf of Mexico from Norway's Statoil (STL.OL). [ID:nL5510922]
Chinese power producers China Power (2380.HK) was up 3.69 percent and Huadian Power (1071.HK) rose 5.26 percent. Beijing may raise power prices next week. [ID:nPEK232338]
SHANGHAI AT THREE-MONTH HIGH
The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC ended at 3,164.037 points, climbing for a sixth session in a row and gaining 5.6 percent for the week.
Gaining Shanghai A shares outnumbered losers by 513 to 348, while turnover picked up to a seven-week high of 181 billion yuan ($26.51 billion) from Thursday's 155 billion yuan.
The index's strong performance this week was driven by expectations for robust October economic data, due for release next week, and a solid earnings outlook at listed companies.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to leave rates at low levels for an extended period bolstered hopes that China would be cautious about raising rates.
"The Fed's stance that there would not be any rate increase soon assured investors that most central banks would not rush to exit from their loose monetary policies," said Wen Lijun, analyst at Nanjing Securities.
Unexpectedly strong earnings at listed Chinese companies have spurred analysts to raise their profit forecasts, creating room for a rise of about 15 percent in the index over the next three months. [ID:nSHA122035]
The main index could face pressure from profit-taking early next week after its prolonged rise, Wen said.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index remains high at 60.4, near the overbought mark at 70.
Daqin Railway (601006.SS), one of the 10 most-actively traded
shares in Shanghai, rose 4.51 percent to 11.35 yuan before it was
suspended from trade in the afternoon pending an important
announcement. It has gained 16.4 percent this week on speculation
that it would receive an asset injection, analysts said.
China Vanke 000002.SZ, the country's second-largest property developer, gained 2.80 percent to 12.10 yuan after its property sales in October soared. [ID:nSHA127237]
Two new shares made firm debuts in Shenzhen: Jiangsu Yanghe
Brewery Joint-Stock (002304.SZ) gaining 47 percent from its IPO
price to 87.91 yuan, while Wuhan Langold Real Estate 002305.SZ
jumped 72 percent to 21.16 yuan.
Shares of companies based on China's southern island of Hainan outperformed after the official China Securities Journal reported that a plan to develop international tourism on the island may soon get approval. Hainan Expressway 000886.SZ jumped by its 10 percent daily limit to 5.48 yuan. (Editing by Chris Lewis)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.



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