Local shares stage rebound on Wall Street lead

The Hang Seng Index rebounded on Thursday, as did other markets in the region, after forecast-beating earnings reports boosted investor confidence and pushed Wall Street higher.

The local benchmark began the day more than 200 points higher and surged by as many as 535 points before wrapping up the day 499 points, or 1.8 percent, higher at 27,723.

Market turnover was HK$137.2 billion.

Tech shares outperformed the market, with the Hang Seng Tech Index jumping 2.2 percent.

Meituan advanced more than 3.5 percent, Alibaba rose 2.2 percent, while Tencent and Xiaomi each put on 1.1 percent.

Sands China rose 3.1 percent after reporting that its second quarter net loss narrowed by 70 percent to US$166 million. Another casino operator, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 4.9 percent.

Sinopec, CNOOC, and PetroChina each rallied more than three percent after oil prices rose more than four percent in the previous session.

The Shanghai Composite Index was 0.3 percent firmer, while the blue-chip CSI300 index inched up 0.2 percent. The Shenzhen Composite added 0.5 percent.

Taiwan snapped a four-day losing streak to finish 0.7 percent higher.

South Korea and Australia each rose about one percent. Singapore gained 1.3 percent. Japan was closed for a long weekend holiday.