The Hang Seng Index jumped 3 per cent to 16,887.56 at 11.05am local time as all but two of the 82 members advanced. The Tech Index surged 3.2 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.3 per cent.

Longfor Group surged 6.5 per cent to HK$13.20 while peer China Resources Land advanced 5.8 per cent to HK$28.05, leading a 4.8 per cent rally in an index tracking mainland Chinese developers. Tencent appreciated 3.8 per cent to HK$318, Alibaba Group climbed 5.1 per cent to HK$72.60 and JD.com gained 7.7 per cent to HK$106.40.

Today’s advance helped push the Hang Seng Index to a 3.7 per cent gain since last Friday, the most since the week ended July 28. Stocks also rallied earlier this week after the Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged, with markets cheering its dovish stance on rates outlook.

Beijing and Shanghai cuts down payments to revive housing markets

Vinda International, a paper manufacturer, surged 8.2 per cent to HK$22.40. Indonesian billionaire Sukanto Tanoto offered HK$26.1 billion (US$3.3 billion), or HK$23.50 per share, to buy about 92.3 per cent of the company it does not already control, to grow its pulp-and-paper empire spanning from China to Brazil.

Asian markets traded higher on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.2 per cent, while Korea’s Kospi and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 both gained 0.9 per cent.