Hong Kong stocks edged up on Tuesday, supported by optimism over foreign investors buying local assets, which pushed the city’s dollar to the strong end of its trading band.
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The Hang Seng Index rose by 90 points, or around 0.4 per cent, to 22,595 as of 10am local time on Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index was down by 0.5 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index was up by 0.6 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index was about 0.5 per cent higher.
AIA Group, the largest publicly traded life insurer in the Asia-Pacific region, rose 2.4 per cent, while Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group was 2.3 per cent higher. JD.com sank by nearly 2 per cent.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de facto central bank, staged an intervention for the third time in four days to maintain the local currency’s peg to the US dollar after the Hong Kong dollar reached the strong end of its trading band. The intervention came as equity investment in the city improved and Asian currencies appreciated against the US dollar.
On Tuesday morning, the HKMA sold a record HK$60 billion (US$7.74 billion) worth of the local currency and bought US$7.8 billion at an exchange rate of HK$7.75 per US dollar, according to a statement from the HKMA.
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US stocks fell on Monday, with the S&P 500 ending its longest rally in about 20 years, as traders pushed back rate-cut expectations amid growing trade uncertainties.