HONG KONG, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — European governments’ commitments to recapitalize banks fueled sharp gains on Asian bourses Tuesday, leading Hong Kong shares to close 3.19 percent higher.

Residents wait at a bus stop before an electronic board displaying Hang Seng Index in south China’s Hong Kong on Oct. 14, 2008.  (Xinhua Photo)

    Building on the previous session’s 10 percent rally, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 520.72 points, or 3.19 percent, to 16,832.88 after trading between 16,615.01 and 17,141.05 during the session.

    Turnover moved up to 81.66 billion HK dollars (10.53 billion U.S. dollars) from Monday’s 72.59 billion HK dollars (9.32 billion U.S. dollars).

    With the news that European governments pledged to spend tens of billions of pounds and euros on stakes in struggling banks and offer hundreds of billions more in guarantees aimed at helping banks borrow the money they need to do business, the Dow Jones Industrial Average raised 936.42 points, or 11.08 percent, to 9387.61 on Monday, its biggest points gain ever. Asian stock markets also rose sharply Tuesday.

    But traders and analysts said profit-taking would likely erode the local market’s gains in the near term as the global financial turmoil isn’t over.

    The Hang Seng Index trimmed its gains in the afternoon, fallingfrom an intraday high of 17,141.05, after China shares ended down on profit-taking and concerns about the U.S. market outlook. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished 2.7 percent lower at 2017.32.

    Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 11 percent to 74.00 HK dollars after a 14 percent rise Monday. It had dropped 50 percent between Aug. 29 and Friday. Henderson Land ended 8.1 percent higher at 30.00 HK dollars, following a 16 percent rise in the previous session.

    Confidence slowly regained on banks, as Bank of China rose 3.15percent to 2.86 HK dollars, ICBC moved up 3.04 percent to 4.28 HK dollars. But Hang Seng Bank moved up 1.09 percent to 119 HK dollars.

    China Overseas gained 13 percent to 9.60 HK dollars, having dropped 17 percent since the start of September. Heavyweight China Mobile rose 2.9 percent to 76.95 HK dollars on expectations of robust third-quarter results due late October.

    Higher oil prices boosted upstream oil companies. CNOOC rose 14percent to 7.17 HK dollars and PetroChina gained 3 percent to 6.9 HK dollars.

    Cheung Kong rose 5.30 percent to 77.4 HK dollars, while Cathy Pacific moved up 3.96 percent to 10.6 HK dollars. China Shenhua rose 11.97 percent to 15.20 HK dollars and China Life rose 1.92 percent to 26.00 HK dollars.