OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2015. Hong Kong stocks closed 0.24 percent higher Tuesday, with investors brushing off concerns about Greece's stalled debt talks as they wind down for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 58.35 points to 24,784.88 on turnover of HK\\$46.72 billion (\\$6.03 billion).

The city's market was helped by a pick-up in Shanghai, which ended 0.76 percent higher on the last day before a week-long break on the mainland.

The closely watched talks collapsed Monday night after Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis rejected demands from his 18 eurozone counterparts to apply for an extension of its bailout.

Varoufakis wants a six-month bridging loan to give him time to negotiate a new deal but the 18 other eurozone nations, led by Germany, say any changes must be within the current programme.

The news raised the prospect of Greece running out of cash within months, defaulting on its debt obligations and crashing out of the eurozone.

The main winner Tuesday was Hang Seng bank, which rose 1.26 percent to HK\\$144.70, while Sinopec was helped by a pick-up in oil prices, adding 0.97 percent to HK\\$6.23.

HSBC edged up 0.49 percent to HK\\$72.05 and casino operator Sands China put on 0.39 percent to HK\\$39.10.

However, Henderson Land Development slipped 0.46 percent to HK\\$54.45 and insurer AIA was 0.11 percent lower at HK\\$44.45.

In mainland China the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 24.55 points to 3,246.91 on turnover of 263.3 billion yuan (\\$42.1 billion).

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, rose 0.67 percent, or 10.68 points, to 1,610.73 on turnover of 240.7 billion yuan.

"The rally in the stock market is clearly a good sign for spending during the holiday," Zhang Dongyi of Guangfa Fund Management told Bloomberg News.

"The market is always quite stable before the Chinese New Year holiday," China Galaxy Securities analyst Sun Jianbo told AFP.

Transport-related firms gained on hopes holiday travel will boost business.

In Shanghai, China Eastern Airlines soared by its 10 percent daily limit to 5.50 yuan, China Southern Airlines jumped 7.42 percent to 5.07 yuan and Air China gained 6.46 percent to 7.75 yuan.

Road transport services firm Jiangxi Changyun rose 0.69 percent to 13.04 yuan and Guangshen Railway added 0.71 percent to 4.28 yuan.

Shenzhen-listed electric car maker BYD rocketed by its 10 percent daily limit to 50.42 yuan on speculation it might cooperate with US technology giant Apple, which is reportedly working to create a company-branded electric vehicle.