HK stocks close 4.56% higher in first trading day of the year

HONG KONG, Jan. 2 (Chinese media) -- Hong Kong stocks surged 655.33 points, or 4.56 percent, to close at 15,042.81 on Friday, the first trading day for 2009.

The turnover rose to 30.53 billion HK dollars (3.94 billion U.S. dollars) from 26.38 billion HK dollars on Tuesday, the last full- trading day in 2008.

Gains in mainland telecommunications companies after Beijing's approval of third-generation mobile licenses led Hong Kong's shares above the psychologically important level of 15,000, analysts said.

They also said the market was supported by "pre-Obama enthusiasm", as investors expected U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to announce a series of economic stimulus policies when he takes office on Jan. 20.

But they noted that low turnover indicated investors remain cautious on expectations for poor corporate earnings and economic data.

Mainland telecom stocks jumped across the board. Although the central government didn't say when the 3G licenses would be granted, the announcement removed a major overhang on the sector, analysts said.

"We hold a positive view for the 3G licenses in the whole telecom industry," said Jim Tang, an analyst at the Shanghai Shenyin Wanguo Research. "China Unicom and China Telecom will benefit the most from 3G licensing. They will also achieve higher sales growth," Tang said.

China Mobile rose 4.4 percent to 81.20 HK dollars, China Unicom rose 8.8 percent to 10.12 HK dollars, and China Telecom ended 6.2 percent higher at 3.07 HK dollars. ZTE, which received a contract to make 3G phones for China Mobile, rose 9.1 percent to 22.15 HK dollars.

Some of the worst-performing blue chips of 2008 surged on their first trading day in 2009 on bargain hunting. Electronics parts maker Foxconn, the biggest blue-chip decliner of 2008 with an 85 percent slump, rose 18 percent to 3.03 HK dollars. Conglomerate Citic Pacific, which slid 81 percent last year, jumped 22 percent to 10.20 HK dollars.

Property counters also led the upward momentum. Cheung Kong jumped 5 percent to 76.9 HK dollars. Hang Lung Properties shot up 9 percent to 18.36 HK dollars.

Coal players were higher after the central government lifted its cap on coal pricing. Shenhua, China Coal and Hidili gained 6 percent to 17.4 HK dollars, 6.55 HK dollars and 2.61 HK dollars. ( 1 U.S. dollar = 7.7425 HK dollars)