Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumps 3% as stocks bounce back from early week slump

SINGAPORE — Shares in Hong Kong continued to see a rebound on Thursday from a two-day slump earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate near zero.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 3.3% to close at 26,315.32. The index had dived more than 8% over two days early this week.

Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong, which were hit hard by the market rout earlier in the week, soared. Shares of Tencent jumped 10.02% while Alibaba gained 7.7% and Meituan climbed 9.49%. The Hang Seng Tech index soared 8% to 6,958.77.

Mainland Chinese stocks also saw strong gains, with the Shanghai composite up 1.49% to close at 3,411.72 and the Shenzhen component surging 3.045% to finish the trading day at 14,515.32.

China’s securities regulators told brokerages late Wednesday that the country will allow Chinese firms to go public in the U.S. as long as they meet listing requirements, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.73% to close at 27,782.42 while the Topix index gained 0.41% to finish the trading day at 1,927.43.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.18% on the day to 3,242.65 while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.52% to close at 7,417.40.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 2.1%.

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 127.59 points to 34,930.93 while the S&P 500 was little changed at 4,400.64. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% to 14,762.58.

The Federal Open Committee ended its two-day meeting by keeping interest rates in a target range between zero and 0.25%.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is nowhere near considering a rate hike despite the optimism over the U.S. economy.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.072 after a recent drop from around 92.7.

The Japanese yen traded at 109.80 per dollar, compared to an earlier low of 109.95 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.74 after seeing an earlier low of $0.7357.

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with Brent crude futures rising 1% to $75.49 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 1.16% to $73.23 per barrel.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.