Hong Kong stocks moved out of negative territory and extended its gains in the afternoon session to jump 465.86 points to close above 29,000 mark Wednesday, encouraged by the bullish closings of markets in the region.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 62.64 points, or 0.22 percent, to open at 28,942.23 but headed downwards shortly after opening to the day's lowest 28,712.47 during the morning session.

As markets on the Chinese mainland ended in positive closings, the Hong Kong stocks then regained momentum in the afternoon, soaring 465.86 points, or 1.61 percent, to close at 29,345.45, just short of the day's peak 29,411.39.

On the Chinese mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shot up 126.76 points, or 2.58 percent, to close at 5,042.65 while the Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange also ended up sharply by 504.64 points, or 3.14 percent, to close at 16,569.81.

Good news from the Chinese mainland also inspired investors' sentiment in Hong Kong stock market, boosting the turnover to 114.78 billion HK dollars (14.75 billion U.S. dollars) from Tuesday's 88.33 billion HK dollars (11.35 billion U.S. dollars).

China Mobile, the country's largest mobile phone operator and the market's largest stock measured by capitalization, advanced 2.11 percent to 144.9 HK dollars, lifting the index by 92.05 points alone.

HSBC, another market heavyweight and the city's largest bank, underperformed the index by falling 0.76 percent to 131.3 HK dollars.

Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited, the market's sole operator, gained 1.27 percent to 240.2 HK dollars due to the increased market turnover.

Most of property companies in Hong Kong were higher. Henderson Land rose 2.14 percent to 73.95 HK dollars. Hutchison rebounded 0.44 percent to 91.8 HK dollars. New World Development recovered 2.07 percent to 29.65 HK dollars. Sino Land went up 2.16 percent to 28.35 HK dollars. Hang Lung added 1.11 percent to 36.45 HK dollars.

Cheung Kong and SHK Properties were the only two house builders that softened from the bull-run in the previous days. Cheung Kong slid 0.72 percent to 150.9 HK dollars. SHK Properties lost 0.6 percent to 166.1 HK dollars.

Hang Seng Bank surged 6.15 percent to 158.8 HK dollars. Bank of East Asia jumped 6.46 percent to 55.2 HK dollars as investors expect Bank of China (Hong Kong) will further increase its stakes of the bank. BOC Hong Kong increased 1.73 percent to 20.6 HK dollars.

The H-shares index, which was composed of 43 companies registered on the Chinese mainland, shone following the market upsurge on the Chinese mainland by jumping 445.06 points, or 2.59 percent, to close at 17,640.15.

Oil, resources and metals sectors were all higher. PetroChina, the largest oil producer in China, rebounded 3.76 percent to 15.44 HK dollars. Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in Asia, roared 4.29 percent to 12.16 HK dollars. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil producer, increased 1.54 percent to 14.48 HK dollars. Angang Steel went up 3.31 percent to 25 HK dollars. Maanshan Iron rebounded 4.91 percent to 5.77 HK dollars. China Shenhua, the country's largest coal producer, shot up 3.44 percent to 48.1 HK dollars. China Coal surged 6.71 percent to 25.45 HK dollars.

China's banking and financials also headed towards different directions. ICBC, China's largest lender, rebounded 2.3 percent to 6.23 HK dollars. CCB, the second largest bank in China, jumped 4.43 percent to 7.78 HK dollars. Bank of China went up 1.23 percent to 4.12 HK dollars. China Merchants Bank added 1.8 percent to 36.85 HK dollars. Bank of Communications added 1.63 percent to 12.5 HK dollars. China Life, the largest life insurer in China, rose 1.49 percent to 44.15 HK dollars. Ping An advanced 1.88 percent to 89.6 HK dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2007)