Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong stocks rose, led by energy stocks, on higher crude oil prices and as China said economic growth exceeded 7 percent in the first nine months.

Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil producer, advanced 4.2 percent. Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest contract maker of mobile phones, surged 9 percent after its major shareholder said it is building a $1 billion factory in China. China Life Insurance Co., the world’s biggest life insurer, gained 1.8 percent as insurance premiums collected by the nation’s insurers increased 8.1 percent in the first nine months of this year.

“The surge in oil prices reflects the growing confidence that the economic recovery is on track,” said Marco Mak, head of research at Tai Fook Securities Ltd. “We could see the Hang Seng Index around 23,000 by the end of the year.”

The Hang Seng Index gained 1.2 percent to 22,200.46, its highest closing level since Aug. 4, 2008. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks so-called H shares of Chinese companies, rose 1.5 percent to 12,947.73.

China’s economy grew by over 7 percent in the first nine months of the year from a year earlier, Xiong Bilin, deputy director general of the industry department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing today.

Crude Oil Rally

Cnooc advanced 4.2 percent to HK$12.42. PetroChina Co., the nation’s biggest oil producer, gained 3 percent to HK$10.28. Crude oil climbed as high as $79.05 a barrel, the highest since Oct. 20, 2008, in after-hours trading today after gaining 9.4 percent last week.

“Overall, oil’s looking very positive, reacting to a pretty good stream of new economic data coming out of the U.S., which is starting to show signs of picking up,” said Geoff Clear, head of Asian commodities at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. Crude will be trading “at more normalized prices around the $80 mark,” he said.

The Hong Kong gauge has surged 96 percent from a four- month low on March 9 as stimulus measures revived economies around the world. Shares on the Hang Seng Index are priced at an average 17.8 times estimated profit, up from 10.6 times at the start of 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Today marks the 22nd anniversary of “Black Monday,” when an increase in U.S. interest rates and slowing economic growth sparked a slump that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 23 percent and the S&P 500 20 percent lower in one day. The Hang Seng Index fell 11 percent on October 19, 1987 -- before the U.S. markets opened. Trading was halted for the next four days and when it resumed, on the following Monday, the market fell by one-third to 2,241.69.

Li & Fung

Li & Fung Ltd., the biggest supplier of clothes and toys to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp., climbed 3.7 percent to HK$34.65. Trinity Ltd., the luxury menswear division of Li & Fung, plans to raise as much as HK$772.8 million ($99.7 million) from its initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to share-sale documents.

Foxconn climbed 9 percent to HK$6.64. The company’s major shareholder, Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is building a $1 billion production facility in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in western China, spokesman Edmund Ding said on Oct. 17.

China Life rose 1.8 percent to HK$36.40. Ping An Insurance Group, China’s second-biggest insurer, added 1.1 percent to HK$67.75. The nation’s insurers collected 858 billion yuan ($126 billion) in premiums in the first nine months of this year, 8.1 percent higher than the year before, according to data released by China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

U.K. Mortgage Regulation?

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, lost 0.6 percent to HK$89.70. The U.K.’s Financial Services Authority may call for limits on the size of home loans relative to the borrowers’ income, or to the value of the home, analysts and industry groups said. The FSA may also ban so-called self-certification mortgages where buyers state their income without supporting documentation.

Shares of property developers gained after an index of Hong Kong home prices compiled by Centaline Property Agency Ltd. rose 1.5 percent in the week ended Oct. 11 to its highest level since March 2008.

Henderson Land Development Co., controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Lee Shau-kee, gained 2.1 percent to HK$54.65. The company sold an apartment in the city last week at a world record price of HK$88,000 a square foot. Hang Lung Properties Ltd., Hong Kong’s fifth-biggest developer by market value, added 1.2 percent to HK$29.15.

China Rare Earth Holdings Ltd., the country’s biggest processor of minerals used in magnets, lamps and batteries, climbed 8.2 percent to HK$1.84. The company said its unit Silver Mile has formed a joint venture with Siemens AG’s OSRAM.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 19, 2009 04:47 EDT