Hong Kong, Shanghai shares rally

Hong Kong and Chinese shares surged on Monday following a rally on Wall Street and on hopes Beijing may be near the end of its monetary tightening campaign. The benchmark Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 1.66 percent, or 372.37 points, to 22,770.47 on turnover of HK$78.97 billion ($10.15 billion). Traders in the financial hub moved in step with a strong performance in Shanghai, where shares rose almost two percent. HSBC rose 1.6 percent to HK$78.30 and China Mobile advanced 1.1 percent to HK$72.80. With China's official manufacturing PMI index hitting a 28-month low and another by HSBC at an 11-month low, analysts expect leaders to ease up on their tightening after four interest rate hikes since October that have been introduced to rein in lending and fight inflation. "It's unlikely for China to hike interest rates in the near future after the nation reported weak manufacturing data," said Kingston Lin, research director at Fulbright Securities. Chinese property developers rose, with China Resources Land gaining 4.0 percent to HK$14.64 and China Overseas Land advancing 1.9 percent to HK$17.00. Chinese auto plays advanced after reports Friday that China's State Council is considering issuing new incentives to revive the industry. Geely Auto jumped 7.9 percent to HK$3.28 and Guangzhou Automobile was up 5.2 percent at HK$9.99. Shanghai surged 1.94 percent. The benchmark composite index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 53.46 points at 2,812.82 on turnover of 143.8 billion yuan ($22.2 billion). "Investors are optimistic now as the general expectations are China will have at most one more rate hike this round," Wu Yu, an analyst at Gold State Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. Auto companies led the gains. Chongqing Changan Automobile ended 6.9 percent higher at 9.86 yuan and SAIC Motor rose 3.1 percent to 19.20 yuan. Lithium producers surged amid hopes for price hikes. Jiangxi Gangfeng Lithium rose by the 10 percent daily limit to 35.19 yuan, while EVE Energy also rose by the maximum limit to 18.10 yuan.