Bank of China, which logged the second-highest turnover for a single stock in the history of the Hong Kong stock exchange, ended the day at HK$3.40, or 15 percent above its IPO price of HK$2.95.

"It's a big surprise," said Peter Lai, director at DBS Vickers of Bank of China's first-trading day performance. "There are overseas funds chasing the counter .... in the short-term, it should trade around this price, but in the long-term, it will outperform the market."

Gaming-related stocks jumped on news that Melco International Development would use the net HK$1.18 billion it raised from a share sale to purchase a property in Macau, to cut debt and for working capital.

Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. gained 1.84 percent to HK$8.30, earlier tapping one-year highs. Melco, the day's third most actively-traded stock, settled at HK$21, up 3.45 percent, having earlier set a new peak.

Champion REIT, which sunk to the lowest since listing last week, plummeted 8.6 percent to HK$4.00 as investors shunned the property trust for its low yield, analysts said.