Hong Kong stocks surge on JD.com, Alibaba earnings and PBOC support pledge

The Hang Seng Index jumped 1.5 per cent to 17,368.48 as of 10.55am local time, as the biggest gain in more than two weeks put the benchmark on track for a second straight weekly gain. The Tech Index jumped 1.6 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added less than 0.1 per cent.

“The positive actually has been the earning cycle,” given that the macro environment is soft, Wendy Liu, JPMorgan’s chief Asia and China equity strategist, said in a media briefing earlier this week. The MSCI China Index got “a little bit of an upwards revision” since July, and consensus is expecting 14 per cent year-over-year growth, she said.

“With China equities, when you get the earnings working, then you get the multiples and the flows will follow,” she added.

The bank will also prepare “incremental policy measures” to help the country’s economy achieve its full-year growth target, he added.

Elsewhere, Suzhou Kematek, a ceramic material producer, surged more than 360 per cent from the issue price to 37 yuan on its first day of trading in Shenzhen.

Other key Asian markets advanced. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.9 per cent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.3 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi Index added 1.8 per cent.