Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index staged a huge rebound on Tuesday, up 1,580.45 points or 14.35 percent to close at 12,596.29, after the index made its fifth worst ever single-day percentage loss by 12.7 percent on Monday.

Turnover totaled 66.05 billion HK dollars (8.53 billion U.S. dollars), compared to Monday's 56.83 billion HK dollars (7.34 billion U.S. dollars).

Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), appointed a 12-member taskforce on Tuesday to deal with the challenges posed by the global financial crisis. He will chair the first meeting of the Task Force on Economic Challenges next Monday while John C Tsang, the Financial Secretary of HKSAR government, will serve as deputy chairman.

"The challenges ahead of us are daunting. The damage that the financial tsunami has inflicted on the global economy has yet to be fully revealed. We need to evaluate the situation, consider ways to respond, identify new opportunities, and ultimately enhance our international competitiveness," Tsang said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened on Tuesday at 11,154.57, 138.73 points or 1.26 percent up, and finished the morning session at 11,691.60, up 675.76 points, or 6.13 percent higher.

Analysts said the index may stage a rebound, but any recovery remains technical in nature.

Chinese shares rose 2.81 percent following a strong rebound in Hong Kong.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.81 percent, or 48.47 points, to close at 1,771.82. The Shenzhen index rose 2.73 percent, or 156.31 points, to close at 5,891.12 points.

The combined turnover climbed to 56.57 billion yuan (US$8.3 billion), from the previous trading day's 47.18 billion yuan. Gains outnumbered losses by 673 to 139 in Shanghai and 593 to 92 in Shenzhen.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2008)