HSBC shares jumped in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon and the Hang Seng Index edged higher, as China let overseas yuan clearing banks trade directly in its onshore foreign-exchange market for the first time.
MoneyTurkey Foreign Markets Desk | 10 November 2026
Key points
- The Hang Seng Index was up about 0.4% at 24,553.71 at about 14:50 Hong Kong time (06:50 London), against Monday’s close of 24,448.95, according to Yahoo Finance data. Hong Kong trading runs until 16:00 local time (08:00 London).
- HSBC was up about 3.7% at HK$142.40 (about US$18.16), against Monday’s HK$137.30.
- Four overseas branches of Chinese banks have completed the first trades in a pilot letting yuan clearing banks deal in the onshore interbank currency market, Caixin reported, citing a Monday notice from the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
The yuan pilot
The four banks are ICBC Singapore, Agricultural Bank of China Dubai, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Bank of China New York, according to Caixin. Their first trades covered spot, forwards and swaps, with the yuan traded against the US dollar, the euro and the Singapore dollar. People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng announced the pilot at the Financial Street Forum on 19 October, when he said eight offshore clearing banks would be allowed to trade for their own accounts. Beijing is trying to bring onshore and offshore yuan markets closer together and widen international use of the currency.
The yuan was steady. The dollar bought about 6.669 yuan onshore and 6.668 yuan offshore at about 07:05 London time.
Hong Kong movers
Chipmaker SMIC was up about 3.0% at HK$47.44 (about US$6.05). Alibaba fell about 2.8% to HK$101.70 (about US$12.97), and Tencent was slightly lower at HK$417.40 (about US$53.22). HSBC’s London-listed shares open at 08:00 London time, the same moment Hong Kong closes.
Around the region
Chip stocks drove bigger gains elsewhere. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed about 2.9% higher at 60,459.58, and South Korea’s Kospi ended about 4.4% higher at 5,239.13, against Monday’s closes. The Shanghai Composite was little changed near 3,663.
What to watch
- HSBC at the London open
- Whether more of the eight clearing banks named in October join the pilot
- The yuan after US inflation data
For information only. Not investment advice.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance market data (index, stock and currency quotes, about 06:50 to 07:05 London time): finance.yahoo.com
- Caixin Global: China Opens Onshore Forex Market to Overseas Yuan Clearing Banks
- Caixin (Chinese): 四家人民币境外清算行试点境内外汇交易
- South China Morning Post: PBOC pilots onshore yuan market trading for foreign banks
