Hong Kong Stocks Rebound Strongly After Heavy Declines

Hong Kong stocks bounced back sharply Tuesday morning after suffering its biggest fall in four months the previous day. The Hang Seng Index advanced 1.5%, with the mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises Index up 1.1%. Index heavyweight China Mobile Ltd. rallied 4.6%, after reporting a 59% jump in its 4G suscribers for the first quarter, despite a 5.6% decrease in net profit. Rival wireless carrier China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. also climbed 2.6%, extending gains following a previous 2.3% advance after the company's mainland Chinese parent reported a 45% month-on-month jump in its 3G and 4G users for March, although mobile users decreased slightly. The Shanghai-listed shares of China United Network Communications Ltd. zoomed 5.7% higher, heading toward a fourth day of gains -- the shares have surged over 30% since the middle of last week after reports said the company may merge with domestic competitor China Telecom Corp. . The surge prompted the firm to issue a statement on the "abnormal volatility," saying the company had no key information that should be revealed about any merger plan. In Hong Kong, China Telecom also added to previous gains, rising 1.6%. Among other gainers, China Minsheng Banking Corp. improved by 2.8% ahead of its earnings results due later in the day. Mainland real-estate developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. was suspended from trading on Tuesday, after saying a day earlier that it had defaulted on interest payments on its offshore bonds and that it was in talks with its creditors to restructure the debt. Over on the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index extended losses after a 1.6% decline on Monday, dropping 0.6%.