Alibaba surge leads Hong Kong stocks towards biggest gain in 2 weeks



Hong Kong stocks rose the most in more than two weeks on Monday, as Alibaba Group Holding surged after quarterly profits beat consensus estimates.

The Hang Seng Index rallied 2 per cent to 25,588.12 as of 10.11am local time, heading for the biggest advance since August 13. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 2.2 per cent.

On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index climbed 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 per cent.

Alibaba, the third-biggest stock on the Hang Seng Index with a 7.7 per cent weighting, jumped 16 per cent to HK$134.20 after profit for the quarter to June surged 78 per cent from a year earlier on increased investment gains and asset disposals. Affiliate Alibaba Health Information Technology advanced 4.2 per cent to HK$42.90, and Wuxi Biologics rallied 5.4 per cent to HK$34.96.

The earnings season is drawing to an end, with 78 out of the 85 members of the Hang Seng Index having disclosed interim results. Profit growth for those 78 companies averaged 2.6 per cent year on year, compared with a 17 per cent increase for the preceding six-month period, according to Bloomberg data.

Separately, the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing was 49.4 last month, edging up from 49.3 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

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