China Telecom led a narrow market to fresh highs on November 29 on positive sentiment towards the mainland play and with the support of leading property counters, South China Morning Post reports on November 30.

The Hang Seng Index ended 186.58 points, or 1.22 per cent, stronger at 15,461.11 after reaching a 27-month intraday high of 15,581.96.

Turnover was $9.8 billion, with China Telecom seeing the most active trade at $1.03 billion.

The telecommunications stock ended 6.71 per cent stronger at $41.30, down from a session high of $43.50.

China Telecom is the best performing blue chip this year, rising 208.2 per cent.

Analysts also said that a report last week that mainland authorities had warned China Telecom and fellow telecommunications giant China Unicom to stop their price wars could have contributed to China Telecom's strength.

Credit Suisse First Boston sales trader Jonathan Gurnsey said the brokerage had upgraded its 12-month price forecast for China Telecom from $40 to $50 - a big leap but a viable target.

Goldman Sachs said in a report earlier this month that it had a 12-month, $42 price target for the stock, saying the "investment story" on the stock was unique.

Celestial Asia Securities director Eugene Law Ka-kin said China Telecom was the market favourite, possibly because of the benefits of mainland entry into the World Trade Organization.

However, he said the stock was "not cheap at all".

Brokers said the announcement on Friday that Hong Kong's gross domestic product grew a better than expected 4.5 per cent year on year in the third quarter was a positive for property stocks.

"The numbers on Friday were tremendous," Paribas Asia Equity research head Simon Irwin said of the GDP figures.

In the broader market, computer maker Legend jumped 15.31 per cent to $18.45, with brokers attributing the gains to its announcement last week of a new portal set up in co-operation with China Telecom.