Hong Kong stocks rose 1.56 percent Friday, nearing a three-month high as strong earnings from ZTE Corp and Tsingtao Brewery and hopes of appreciation of the yuan lifted mainland stocks.

Market heavyweight HSBC rose over 3 percent, adding about 94 points to the overall gain on the Hang Seng.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 341.46 points at 22,208.50, to cross the 22,000-mark that investors considered a strong resistance ceiling. The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland stocks closed up 1.49 percent at 13,046.72.

Market turnover rose to HK$76.17 billion from Thursday's HK$70.15 billion.

"The market's in a very good mood," said Jackson Wong, investment manager at Tanrich Securities. "Since we broke through the 21,800 level, investors are diving in, buying the lagards and the big blue chips."

"The downside is limited - we don't see any negative news on the horizon," Wong said.

The index has risen 3.1 percent in three days of trade. The trading week was shortened due to the Easter and Tomb Sweeping holidays.

The yuan closed at its highest level since October 2009 Thursday after reports that China was close to announcing a currency policy shift that would involve a small but immediate revaluation of the yuan.

Manufacturers that import raw materials and sell domestically, and airlines, which spend heavily in dollars to purchase aircraft, are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of a yuan appreciation, Wong said. A stronger yuan also inflates the value of the companies' assets for foreign investors.

The premium at which A-shares trade over their Hong Kong-listed H-share counterparts has narrowed to the lowest level in nearly 19 months.

The premium has fallen as fund managers are now pouring money into Hong Kong, which underperformed most stock markets in the first quarter, dealers said.

ZTE, China's No 2 telecoms equipment maker, rose 3.7 percent after the company said its quarterly profit rose 50 percent on booming exports, in line with expectations.

Tsingtao Brewery, China's best-known beer brand and No 2 brewer by volume, gained 2.5 percent after it posted a 91.7 percent rise in second-half profit on rising beer sales and lower raw material costs.

Reuters

(HK Edition 04/10/2010 page2)