Hong Kong stocks rebounded Thursday, ending the holiday-shortened week higher, on expectations that China will roll out fresh measures to stoke domestic demand amid external challenges.
The Hang Seng Index rose 1.6%, or 338.16 points, to finish at 21,395.14. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 1.5%, or 118.43 points, to end at 7,894.44.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang signaled that policies to boost domestic demand and consumption were on the way.
He committed to facilitate exporters' access to the domestic market through the creation of sales platforms for goods originally destined for overseas markets, and to steadily advance the integration of domestic and foreign trade.
Li, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, also pledged further support for the property sector and urged exporters to diversify their international sales channels.
"With the external environment facing uncertainty, policies supporting domestic demand are expected to underpin Hong Kong stocks," Bocom International analyst Evan Li was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying.
Hong Kong financial markets will be closed tomorrow and Monday next week for the Good Friday and Easter Monday holidays. Markets will reopen on Tuesday, April 22.
In corporate news, shares of Alibaba (HKG:9988) closed 3% higher following reports that its Taobao platform topped the Apple App Store's free download charts in 16 countries due to increased overseas demand for direct purchases from Chinese suppliers amid US tariff hikes.
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