Hong Kong stocks open up 2.28%

September 14, 2012 | 09:20

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Hong Kong stocks opened up 2.28 percent on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve unveiled a fresh stimulus plan to help spur the US economy.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 456.67 points to 20,504.30 in the first few minutes of trade.

US stocks soared Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced a new $40 billion per month bond-buying programme focused on boosting jobs and pulling the housing market back to life.

After trading flat before the Fed's announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 206.51 points (1.55 percent) at 13,539.86.

The Fed said the new monetary easing effort would remain in place until it sees substantial improvement in the US jobs market, where 8.1 percent of Americans remain unemployed.

It follows a European Central Bank agreement on a new programme to buy unlimited amounts of heavily indebted eurozone countries' sovereign bonds in a bid to bring down their borrowing costs.

AFP

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