Hong Kong stocks rebound, paring world's biggest equity slump

Sydney - Stocks in Hong Kong rose, led by technology and financial companies, as investors took courage from the global equity rebound.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.3%, trimming an earlier gain of 2.4%, while a gauge of Chinese shares traded in the city rose for the first time in seven days.

Hong Kong and China stocks bore the brunt of the recent selloff, with both indexes still down more than 9% this month, the most among global benchmarks.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 1% on Tuesday, paring its February loss to 8.5%.

"The focus of the market will shift to earnings results after Chinese New Year and that will determine the future trend of the Hong Kong stocks," said Banny Lam, head of research at CEB International Investment.

Hong Kong markets will be closed Friday and Monday for holidays, while mainland bourses shut for a week from Thursday.

Sunny Optical Technology Group led gains on the Hong Kong benchmark, jumping 5.7% after saying 2017 net income probably more than doubled from a year earlier.

Ping An Insurance Group climbed 3.7%after sinking 13% last week.

Turnover in mainland equities fell to 343bn yuan, the lowest since December 22. Hong Kong’s turnover dropped to HK$129bn, the least since January 5.

Financial firms rallied after being among the hardest-hit H shares this month.

Ping An Insurance advanced the most since January 2 after reporting January premium income, while Citic Securities added 2.1% Bank of China, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Merchants Bank all rose more than 1% in Hong Kong China Shenhua Energy gained 0.7% after saying January coal sales increased 6% year-on-year.

The stock slid 16% last week Tencent Holdings climbed 3.1% for its biggest gain in three weeks; the tech heavyweight lost 10% last week and 4% the week before.