HK stocks rise on expectations for fiscal stimulus, PBOC's US$70 bn financing facility

On Thursday (Oct. 10), the Hang Seng Index increased by 2.5 percent to 21,157.38. There was a 2.2% increase in the Hang Seng Tech Index. Both the Shanghai Composite Index and the CSI 300 Index increased by 0.8 percent.

China's central bank on Thursday unveiled a new swap tool to enhance the liquidity on the stock market and "promote the healthy development of the capital markets", with an initial size of 500 billion yuan (US$70.7 billion).

The new Securities, Funds and Insurance companies Swap Facility will enable qualified securities, mutual funds and insurance companies to swap government bonds or central bank bills with their holdings of corporate bonds or stock exchange-traded funds as collateral, according to a statement released on the website of the People's Bank of China. The central bank will begin to accept applications immediately and the size could be further expanded, it added.

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