The Hang Seng rose 66 points, or 0.3%, to close at 19,286 on Wednesday, rising for a second session amid gains mainly from financials and property. The index eased off a near four-month low after China's central bank today injected the second-largest amount of cash into the economy via 7-day reverse repos to meet demand ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Meanwhile, data on Tuesday showed that new yuan loans jumped in December after falling to their lowest since 2012 in November. However, further gains were capped by concerns over trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, with the U.S. reportedly planning new rules to curb the flow of advanced chips made by Taiwan Semicon Manufacturing Co. and other manufacturers into China. Some traders also remained cautious ahead of key data from China in the coming days, including fourth-quarter GDP and December activity readings. Among the top movers were Semicon Manufacturing (5.4%), Techtronic Inds. (2.9%), MGM China Hlds. (2.5%), and Kingsoft Corp. (2.0%).(AL)
Source: Trading Economics
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