ASIA MARKETS: Hong Kong Stocks Snap Losing Streak As China Mobile Rallies

By Laura He, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Friday, snapping a four-day losing string, as China Mobile Ltd. rallied on separate reports the carrier recorded robust growth in 4G subscribers.

The Hang Seng Index moved significantly lower in early trading, as local banks fell hard amid ongoing protests in Hong Kong. However, the index reversed losses and closed 0.6% higher at 23,064.56.

Shares of index heavyweight China Mobile spiked up 3.5%, after the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday that the country's largest wireless carrier has seen the number of its 4G users top 40 million, and has built more than 500,000 4G base stations across the country.

Meanwhile, other mainland media reported Chinese consumers rushed to reserve the iPhone 6 prior to its official launch on Oct. 17, with the reservations hitting 2 million within six hours after the three state-owned mobile carriers and various retail outlets began taking orders.

China Mobile's smaller rival China Telecom Corp. Ltd. rose 0.4%, while China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. edged down 0.3%.

Mainland real estate stocks posted significant gains after the People's Bank of China recently unveiled a policy to loosen restrictions on home purchases. Index components China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. and China Resources Land Ltd. leapt 6.1% and 5%, respectively. Other top outperformers included Sunac China Holdings Ltd. , surging 12.2%, Greentown China Holdings Ltd., climbing 8.9%, and Poly Property Group Co. Ltd. , soaring 6.7%.

However, most local banks remained lower as pro-democracy protests persisted across the city. Sino-British banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC -- the benchmark's top-weighted component -- dropped 1.1%, while Standard Chartered PLC fell by 3.5%, even as it reopened its branches closed by the protests. BOC Hong Kong Holding Ltd. slipped 0.2%.

In other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Average rose 0.3%, with the dollar rising to Yen108.899 from compared with Yen108.456 a day ago. The broader Topix index nudged 0.2% higher.

Elsewhere, Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 finished up 0.4%. Shanghai and Seoul markets were both closed for public holidays.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires