Hong Kong Stocks Rise On Earnings, Casino Strength

Hong Kong stocks opened higher Wednesday and kept on rising, scoring a second straight rally amid some positive earnings reports, with solid U.S. gains also buttressing the market. In early moves, the Hang Seng Index was up 0.9%, on top of a 1.6% advance a day earlier. The mainland-China-tracking H-share index was 1.3% higher, while on the mainland itself, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% on top of Tuesday's 2.1% jump. China's top two life insurers helped to lead the advance after reporting financial results, with Ping An Insurance Group Co. ahead by 3.3% (its quarterly profit jumped 90% from a year earlier) and China Life Insurance Co. adding 2% (it saw a 22% rise in its profit). Shipping-port major Cosco Pacific Ltd. added 0.8% after posting a profit advance of its own, while Air China Ltd. managed to gain 0.6% as well, even though its quarterly net income fell almost 9% due to a bad currency environment. On the other hand, disappointing results from Standard Chartered PLC sent its shares falling 2.7%. Casino shares also traded with strong gains, even as Wynn Resorts Ltd. over in the U.S. posted results that included a drop in revenue for its Macau operations. Despite this, Wynn Macau Ltd. rose 2.1%, while Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. rallied 4%, and Sands China Ltd. improved by 2.8%