Hong Kong shares close morning higher

Share prices closed the morning higher following Wall Street's rebound overnight and better-than-expected Hong Kong unemployment data, with further support from interest generated by HSBC ahead of its going ex-div and by TVB after rival tom.com withdrew a buy-in plan for ATV, dealers said.

Yesterday, the government announced that the May-July unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.8% from 7.7% in the three months to June, or lower than the market's expectations for 7.9-8.0%.

HSBC was a major gainer, with buying interest centred on the counter ahead of its going ex-dividend tomorrow, while Hutchison was supported by technical factors, they added.

TVB also outperformed the broader market after rival tom.com announced it has terminated plans to buy a 32.7% stake in Asia Television Ltd after failing to undertake a meaningful due diligence on the company, they said.

The Hang Seng index closed the session up 149.50 points or 1.46% at 10,396.46, off a high of 10,431.38 and a low of 10,373.51.

The Hang Seng August contract was at 10,315 points.

The China Enterprises index was up 26.19 at 1,982.91 and the CAC index 8.09 higher at 1,175.93.

The GEM index was down 0.46 points at 144.65.