Hong Kong Stocks Extend Gains After Strong Rebound

Hong Kong stocks rose further Wednesday morning, adding to the previous day's rally, while Shanghai markets climbed sharply after hitting a new seven-year closing high Tuesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.5%, with the mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advancing 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3%, on top of its 1.8% rally a day earlier. Nuclear-energy shares were among the biggest gainers in both markets after reports said China's first domestically designed nuclear reactor -- the Hualong 1 -- was scheduled to start construction on May 7, while the country has also agreed to export five nuclear reactors to Pakistan in an investment worth around $15 billion, by far the biggest nuclear-energy project China has conducted abroad. In Hong Kong, nuclear-power-equipment maker Shanghai Electric Group Ltd. surged 8.1%, rival Harbin Electric Co. rallied 4.1%, Dongfang Electric Corp. jumped 3.7%, and nuclear-power project developer CGN Power Co. climbed 3.5%. In Shanghai, shares of Shanghai Electric were suspended from trading after soaring limit-up by 10%. Among other nuclear stocks in Shanghai, China First Heavy Industries Co. spiked 6.8%, Dongfang Electric leapt 6.4%, and Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry Co. cracked 4.5% higher. Meanwhile, Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. , the movie studio owned by Alibaba Group, zoomed 12.8% higher after it resumed trading Wednesday, as the company announced it had acquired Guangdong Yueke Software Engineerning Co., one of China's largest cinema-ticketing system suppliers, for 830 million yuan ($133 million). However, China Resources Enterprise Ltd. , a retail unit of the state-owned China Resources Group, edged higher by 0.2% after soaring 56% the previous day, as the company announced Tuesday it would sell its non-beer assets to the corporate parent for 28 billion yuan. Other stocks in the China Resources Group family also gained, as China Resources Power Holdings Co. improved by more than 11%, developer China Resources Land Ltd. climbed 4.1%, China Resources Gas Group Ltd. moved up 0.8%, and China Resources Cement Holdings Ltd. traded 0.6% higher.