Hang Seng index rallies on Thursday

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied on Thursday fuelled by financial and commodity shares amid improvement in global manufacturing data. Hang Seng Index added 2% or 406.08 points and settled at 20,739.45. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. jumped 3.8%, oil giant Cnooc Ltd. surged 4.1%, while HSBC Holdings PLC gained 3.2%. Clothing retailer Esprit Holdings partly recovered from yesterday's drop and traded 5% higher. On the downside China Resource Power edged down 1.9%.