Hong Kong stocks close at highest level since 2007

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed above the 30,000 level for the first time in more than a decade on Wednesday driven broadly by strong earnings and particular interest in one high-flying stock, Tencent, the Financial Times reports. The benchmark settled at 30,003.49, its highest level since October 2007. The index has gained 36.4% this year, making it the best performing global benchmark in the world. Much of the momentum comes from Chinese technology group Tencent, which this week briefly eclipsed the market cap of Facebook. Tencent’s share price has climbed 125.5% for the year to date, contributing almost one-third of the Hang Seng’s gains. The group, which also this week surpassed a $500bn market cap, becoming the first Chinese technology company to reach such a valuation, also captures another theme driving the Hang Seng: earnings. The rally in China stocks also shows equities catching up with a global rally, after a long spell lagging.