BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares ended at their highest level in more than 20 months on Wednesday, extending gains for the fifth straight session boosted by gains in tech stocks.
The Hang Seng index ended up 320.19 points or 1.08% at 29,962.47, its highest closing since May 3, 2019. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed 1.83% higher at 11,949.35.
The IT sector sub-index led the gains by rising 5.47%, with the heavyweight heavyweight Alibaba Group recorded the best intraday gain in more than six months.
The financial sector ended 1.16% lower, while the sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.5%. The property sector dipped 0.4%.
Alibaba's founder Jack Ma made his first public appearance since October, as he spoke to a group of teachers by video, easing concerns about his unusual absence from public life and boosting shares in the e-commerce giant.
Chinese mom-and-pop investors are stampeding into the stock market for fear of missing out on the bull run, with more than 1.6 million share trading accounts newly opened in December, doubling from a year earlier, latest data shows.
Sentiment in Hong Kong was also buoyed by a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal from U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who will be sworn in later in the day.
China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.47% at 3,583.09 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 0.72%.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 2.03%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.38%.
The yuan was quoted at 6.467 per U.S. dollar at 08:13 GMT, 0.2% firmer than the previous close of 6.48.
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