OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2015. Hong Kong stocks added 0.18 percent Monday following a record close on Wall Street as investors await crunch talks between Greece and its creditors over plans to overhaul its bailout.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 43.99 points to 24,726.53 on turnover of HK\\$51.27 billion (\\$6.62 billion).

US markets rallied Friday in response to data showing an uptick in the eurozone economy, led by the currency bloc's heavyweight Germany.

The S&P 500 ended 0.41 percent up at a new record high, while the Dow added 0.26 percent to break 18,000 for the first time this year. The Nasdaq advanced 0.75 percent

Traders are also upbeat about the prospects of Greece's new leadership hammering out a new debt deal at Monday's meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will try to persuade his counterparts to accept a rewrite of the country's austerity-laden bailout, which Athens says has crippled the economy.

While it faces stern opposition, mostly from key European paymaster Germany, Varoufakis and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras say they are confident they can win over sceptics.

China Resources Land rose 1.23 percent to HK\\$20.60, Cheung Kong added 1.07 percent to HK\\$151.50 and Internet firm Tencent gained 0.23 percent to HK\\$130.50.

HSBC dipped 0.07 percent to HK\\$71.70, insurer AIA ticked up 0.11 percent to HK\\$44.50 and SinoPec put on 0.33 percent to HK\\$6.17.

In mainland China, shares gained ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, also called the Spring Festival, which will see markets closed for a week from Wednesday.

"There are still inflows of funds unlocked from new share subscriptions last week, while people also have expectations that the market's performance won't be too bad before the Spring Festival," Northeast Securities analyst Shen Zhengyang told AFP.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.58 percent, or 18.53 points, to 3,222.36 on turnover of 266.0 billion yuan (\\$42.7 billion).

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, jumped 1.94 percent, or 30.49 points, to 1,600.05 on turnover of 266.3 billion yuan.

"There is relatively little activity in the market today," Gerry Alfonso, Shanghai-based China equity sales and trading director at Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co., told Bloomberg News.

"The market tends to be less efficient and more unpredictable than during the non-holiday season."

Security software developer Yonyou Network Technology soared by its 10 percent daily limit to 42.69 yuan in Shanghai.

Shanghai-listed China United Network Communications also jumped 10 percent to 5.34 yuan as investors bet on the possibility of parent China Unicom merging with competitor China Telecom. Unicom has denied the speculation.

A merger announced over the weekend by China's two main taxi-booking apps boosted some transport-related firms.

Taxi operator Dazhong Transportation Group rose 1.87 percent to 11.43 yuan in Shanghai while electronic map developer NavInfo shot up 10 percent to 28.88 yuan in Shenzhen.