HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong shares advanced early Thursday as investors digested a slew of economic data, including a higher-than-expected consumer price index for February. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.2% to 21,249.19 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 0.1% to 12,232.96, after a higher finish on Wall Street and despite briefly dipping into negative territory. Shares of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:293 (HK:293 17.30, +0.16, +0.93%) /quotes/comstock/11i!cpcay (CPCAY 11.14, +0.04, +0.36%) added 1.1% and Citic Pacific Ltd. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:267 (HK:267 15.98, -0.08, -0.50%) /quotes/comstock/11i!ctpc.y (CTPCY 10.23, +0.27, +2.71%) advanced 3.4% after results released Wednesday showed they swung back to profits in 2009. The rise in Cathay Pacific came despite a Citigroup downgrade of the stock to sell. Bank of China Ltd. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:3988 (HK:3988 4.10, -0.02, -0.49%) /quotes/comstock/11i!bachy (BACHY 13.22, +0.22, +1.69%) fell 0.5% and China Construction Bank Corp. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:939 (HK:939 6.59, -0.02, -0.30%) /quotes/comstock/11i!cichy (CICHY 42.58, +0.15, +0.35%) slipped 0.2% after the Chinese inflation data. The Shanghai Composite, meanwhile, added 0.6% to 3,067.93.
