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Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong stocks rose for a fourth day as China said it will sell sovereign bonds in the city, boosting confidence in the mainland’s support for the former British colony’s place as a global financial hub.

Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s third-largest lender by assets, rallied 2.2 percent, while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest financial company by market value, advanced 1.9 percent. China’s Ministry of Finance today said in a statement on its Web site that the government plans to sell 6 billion yuan ($879 million) of sovereign bonds in Hong Kong on Sept. 28. Genesis Energy Holdings Ltd., an oil and gas company, jumped 7.7 percent after buying mining rights in China’s Shaanxi Province.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 2.1 percent to 21,069.81 at the close of trade. It had fallen as much as 0.1 percent earlier. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks so-called H shares of Chinese companies, rose 2.5 percent to 12,275.66.

“Six billion yuan is a small amount on the mainland market, but it shows the central government’s support to Hong Kong as an international financial center,” said Zhao Qingming, an analyst at China Construction Bank Corp. in Beijing. “It will be the beginning of more measures to push Hong Kong as an offshore center for China’s yuan.”

The Hang Seng Index has rallied 86 percent since hitting a four-month low on March 9. Stocks on the gauge are valued at 17.3 times estimated earnings, up from 10.6 times at the start of the year.

Growth Prospects

Gains accelerated in the afternoon on speculation data out later this week will show China’s economic recovery is strengthening.

The government is due to release August figures for trade, industrial production, urban fixed-asset investment, retail sales and inflation on Sept. 11. The central bank may also give lending and money-supply figures this week.

China will maintain its current stimulatory fiscal and monetary policies as the economy stabilizes and rebounds, State Councilor Ma Kai said at an investment fair in Xiamen today.

Bank of China rallied 2.2 percent to HK$4.19. Industrial & Commercial Bank gained 1.9 percent to HK$5.89. China Construction Bank Corp., the nation’s second largest, climbed 2.4 percent to HK$6.30.

New Revenue Sources

Standard Chartered Plc advanced 0.8 percent to HK$177. The company said it expects its private banking assets in Taiwan to grow twice as fast as the island’s industry average in the next three years as more money is repatriated.

“There’s no doubt that over time the income sources for Hong Kong banks are going to increase,” said Diane Lin, a Sydney-based fund manager at Pengana Capital Ltd., which oversees about $1 billion, including Hong Kong investments. “It offers quite a nice potential growth prospect for them. We are relatively cautious on Hong Kong because valuations have become less attractive.”

Genesis Energy surged 7.7 percent to 28 Hong Kong cents. The company will acquire a 12-square-kilometer (4.6-square-mile) oil and gas project. The mining rights will expire in September 2015, and can be extended upon further negotiations, Genesis Energy said in an e-mailed statement.

Other energy stocks climbed as crude oil for October delivery rose 1.5 percent to $69.07 a barrel at 4:31 p.m. Hong Kong time. PetroChina Co., the country’s largest oil producer, rose 3.2 percent to HK$9.15. Cnooc Ltd., China’s third-biggest oil company, rallied 3 percent to HK$10.84.

Zhaojin Mining Industry Co., a gold mining company based in China’s Shandong province, surged 12 percent to HK$14.28, as gold futures punched through $1,000 an ounce for the first time in more than six months. Real Gold Mining Ltd., based in Inner Mongolia, jumped 17 percent to HK$8.86.

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. rose 3 percent to HK$2.07 as China’s biggest privately owned carmaker more than doubled first-half profit after boosting auto sales and buying stakes in carmaking affiliates.

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