The Hang Seng Index jumped 1.1 per cent to 16,408.26 at the noon trading break on Thursday, the biggest gain since November 20. The Tech Index climbed 1.1 per cent while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 per cent.

Sun Hung Kai Properties surged 4 per cent to HK$81.10, Henderson Land jumped 3.4 per cent to HK$23.05 and HSBC added 0.5 per cent to HK$60.85, leading gains among local property developers and banks. Electric vehicle maker BYD added 1.1 per cent to HK$205.60 and JD.com added 0.9 per cent to HK$98.75.

“The dovish signal from the Fed this round provides room and time for risk assets to perform,” said Ray Sharma-Ong, investment director of multi-asset at abrdn. Asian equities are likely to improve as US growth moderates while Asian growth remains resilient, he added.

Even with today’s gains, the Hang Seng Index has still lost 3 per cent in December to extend its slide in the previous four months. The benchmark’s 17 per cent drop makes it the worst performing major global stock index this year and puts it on track to post an unprecedented fourth year of losses, according to Bloomberg data.

Elsewhere, Zhuhai Pilot Technology surged 162 per cent to 30.20 yuan per share on its first day of trading in Beijing.

Asian markets were mixed on Thursday morning. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.9 per cent, Korea’s Kospi index rose 1.1 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.6 per cent.