Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Wednesday amid speculation that Washington may hold back from slapping new tariffs on Chinese exports that are scheduled to kick in this weekend.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 0.8% at 26,645.43, hovering around the session’s high. Earlier in the day, the index hit its highest since Nov. 29. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index gained 1%.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares closed 0.6% firmer, the IT sector gained 1.2%, the financial sector ended 0.9% higher and the property sector ended up 0.7%.

Source : Reuters