Soaring stock markets boost number of Hong Kong millionaires

Soaring stock markets in Hong Kong and China helped swell the number of US dollar millionaires in Hong Kong by 12.2 per cent to 87,000 at the end of 2006, local media reported Thursday. There were 77,200 at the end of 2005, The Standard newspaper reported. A poll by Merrill Lynch and consultancy firm Capgemini showed Hong Kong's millionaires - those with a minimum million US dollars in assets - held a combined wealth of 460 billion dollars. "Economic conditions in Hong Kong remained buoyant in 2006 on the back of China's continued expansion," said Stephen Corry, an Asia-Pacific investment strategist for Merrill Lynch. dpa kw me