HK stocks closed higher on Thursday morning session, shrugging off Moody's downgrade of Hong Kong's rating to Aa2 from Aa1 following China's downgrade yesterday.
The Hang Seng Index ended the morning up 148 points to 25,576, after rising as high as 214 points to an about 22-month high of 25,642 at one stage. The H-share index rose 134 points to 10,525. Half-day turnover increased to HK$40.02 billion from HK$37.3 billion on Wednesday.
Market heavyweights were mostly firmer. China Mobile (00941) rose 0.64% to HK$86.85, while HSBC (00005) gained 0.37% to HK$67.65.
Chinese developers gained across the board. Chine Res Land (01109) shot up 3.71% to HK$22.35, making itself the largest blue-chip gainer in the morning session. China Overseas (00688) picked up 3.3% to HK$23.5. The two stocks are preferred by CICC Research.
I.T (00999) put on 3.66% to HK$3.4 after Nomura revised up its target price for the stock. Samsonite (01910) surged 6.45% to HK$31.35 after its 1Q earnings release. Man Wah Holdings (01999) soared 11.27% to HK$7.9 after Daiwa raised its target price for the stock by about 26%.