Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 2.4% in August, marking the eighth-straight month of gains, the longest such stretch since 2007.
The benchmark index’s year-to-date gain of 27% is pushing the index closer to its peak of two years ago.
From Bloomberg:
- AAC Technologies Holdings was the biggest gainer, up 36% on the month amid analyst upgrades
- Wharf Holdings was up 12% on the announcement of a spinoff plan
- 80% of companies reported earnings growth in semi-annual results, compared with 56% two years ago and 38% last year.
- “The market is actually trying to play catchup,” said Ken Wong, a Hong Kong-based fund manager with Eastspring Investments. “Over the past 10 years, prices really haven’t gone up that much. But earnings have gone up quite a bit more.” Companies on Hong Kong’s benchmark are trading at about 12.3 times estimated earnings, a discount of more than 40 percent from a 2007 peak, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.