Hong Kong stocks closed marginally higher Tuesday as investors tracked the latest developments in the Middle East, including reports Iran was considering attending a second round of peace talks in Islamabad.
The Hang Seng Index rose by around 126.41 points, or roughly 0.5%, to end at 26,487.48, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index increased by 44.48 points, or around 0.5%, to close at 8,943.54.
Rhetoric between Iran and the U.S. intensified as a two-week ceasefire between the sides neared its end, with uncertainty over whether the countries will attend a second round of peace talks in Pakistan.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters the country may send a delegation to attend the talks, while analysts from Westpac noted that the potential talks in Islamabad remain likely, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission rolled out a new regulatory framework to enable secondary trading of tokenized investment products.
The initiative will initially allow trading of tokenized SFC-authorized open-ended funds on licensed virtual asset trading platforms, with the regulator also open to considering over-the-counter arrangements on a case-by-case basis.
In corporate news, Victory Giant Technology (HKG:2476; SHE:300476) shined in its Hong Kong debut after shares closed at HK$315 per share, 50% above their offer price of HK$209.88.
Elsewhere, Sunmi Technology (HKG:6810) launched its Hong Kong initial public offering to raise about HK$1.06 billion.
The Chinese IoT services provider is offering 42.6 million H-shares at HK$24.86 apiece to raise funds for research and development and strengthen supply chain and manufacturing capabilities.