The biggest rally in Hong Kong stocks since January helped deliver US$6.6 billion of wealth to the city’s richest tycoons. Forecasts by some market strategists for more upside this year could help reduce the damage inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Hang Seng Index jumped 5.7 per cent last week for its best winning run since the opening days of 2023 as investors bet China’s years-long tech-sector crackdown has run its course. The rally also topped major global stock benchmarks, outpacing the S&P 500’s 2.2 per cent and the MSCI World Index’s 3 per cent advance.

The city’s 16 top billionaires enhanced their cumulative net worth to US$223 billion on July 14, according to Bloomberg data. They still remained poorer by US$1.6 billion from the start of the year.

“Investors are desperately looking for signals of China returning to pragmatism [by] refocusing on the economy,” said Wang Qi, CEO of MegaTrust Investment in Hong Kong. “Such gestures do not really cost the government anything, yet they may be more effective than stimulus policies.”

Source: scmp