Stock market Illustration: VCG

The Hong Kong stock market extended its three-week rally on Monday, reaching a two-and-a-half-year high in the morning session, buoyed by the latest packet of stimulus policies meted out by China's monetary authorities to fuel up the economy.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.

The Hang Seng Index closed the morning session up by 1.15 percent to reach 22,997.26, the highest level since February 2022. The Tech Index of the Hong Kong stock market rose by 2.35 percent.

China's top chip maker SMIC, headquartered in Shanghai, surged by 17.92 percent to reach HK$32.25 ($4.15), while e-commerce giant Alibaba rose 0.79 percent to hit HK$114.80.

China's central bank has issued a new set of monetary stimulus programs, including a cut in commercial banks' reserve requirement ratio and the benchmark interest rates to shore up economic revival that have significantly boosted investor sentiment. 

Driven by the stimulus, both the mainland's A-share market and Hong Kong's H-shares have staged very strong rallies lately.

Though the mainland market closed for the National Day holidays, which ran from October 1 to October 7, Hong Kong's stock market continued to rise, with the Hang Seng Index notching up by an accumulative 10.2 percent between September 30 and Friday.

Since the start of the fourth quarter this year, the overall market atmosphere has significantly improved, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his blog, seen on the official website of Hong Kong government on Sunday. 

According to official data, the Hang Seng Index has rebounded to a two-and-a-half-year high, surging by a total of 5,600 points over the past 15 trading days, or around 33 percent. From the beginning of September to Friday, the daily turnover in the Hong Kong stock market reached HK$192 billion ($24.72 billion), double the level recorded in August, the financial secretary wrote.

Global Times