The Hang Seng Index gained 0.3 per cent to 25,886.75 at the noon break, heading for the highest close since December 12. The Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 1.6 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index added 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 per cent.
It is the second consecutive shortened trading week for the city’s stock market, with investors returning today after a two-day holiday for Christmas. The city’s financial market will trade for a half day on Wednesday and be shut on Thursday for New Year’s Day. The mainland’s markets will be closed on Thursday and Friday.
Investors have been boosting bets that Beijing will double down on fiscal expansion and monetary easing in 2026 to rejuvenate growth after an economic work conference chaired by President Xi Jinping this month pledged to prioritise boosting domestic demand and technological innovation. In the latest sign of its determination to arrest the unrelenting decline in home prices, Beijing last week further loosened restrictions on home purchases in the capital city, stoking speculation that other first-tier cities Shanghai and Shenzhen would follow suit.
“Policy support will work its way into the economy to keep growth at a reasonable range next year,” said Zhang Yusheng, an analyst at Everbright Securities in Shanghai. “That will boost confidence in the market and attract more inflows.”
