Hong Kong shares surged by 3.6 per cent Monday to end a whisker below the 13,000 points mark on a fifth consecutive day of gains.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index gained 450.91 points to close at 12,976.71 points. Turnover was 46.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.02 billion US dollars.)

The surge in prices Monday brought the index's gains since the start of trading seven days ago to more than 1,000 points in the strongest rally for weeks.

HSBC shares continued their improvement, gaining 4.58 per cent and closing at 40 Hong Kong dollars, exactly a week after losing 24 per cent of their value in one afternoon.

The rally in Hong Kong prices has been led by the improvement in the performance of banking stocks and spurred by some early signs of a general economic recovery, analysts say.