Hong Kong shares rallied for a third straight session Thursday to set a new closing record, snubbing an overnight decline in Wall Street, reported ap. The blue chip Hang Seng Index rose 563.69 points, or 1.97 percent, to 29,133.02, surpassing the 29,000-point level for the first time. The gains came despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.6 percent Wednesday on news of delays in a key Boeing jetliner program, a day after both U.S. benchmarks hit new record closing highs. Analysts said while Hong Kong's benchmark index may test 30,000-level soon, volatility will likely increase in the short term as share prices have become increasingly detached from fundamentals. «Given the Hang Seng Index's current price-to-earnings ratio at 21 times, I don't think it is reasonable to buy anything based on fundamentals,» said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Securities. Pang added profit-taking is more likely on extended gains in recent months. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec, was the biggest blue chip gainer. Asia's largest refiner by capacity rose 11.39 percent to HK$11.34 after it said that regular maintenance on a crude distillation unit will finish by the end of the month. Analysts said the news was positive for the company as it means the Guangzhou distillation unit, which has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels a day, will likely be resuming production in a couple of weeks. The share prices of Bank of China, China's second-largest bank by assets, and its Hong Kong unit were buoyed by rotational buying. «The two banks lagged behind peers like Industrial & Commercial Bank over the past few weeks, so it's just catching up,» said Kenny Tang, an associate director of Tung Tai Securities. Down-jacket manufacturer Bosideng International rose 4 percent to HK$3.41 on its trading debut after raising US$836 million in its initial public offering. Turnover totaled HK$178.7 billion (US$23.05 billion; euro 16.22 billion), up from HK$153.8 billion Wednesday.
