HONG KONG -- Hong Kong shares ended at nearly a three-week high on Tuesday, led by Chinese lenders after a unit of the country's sovereign wealth fund raised its stakes in four banks in a show of the government support for equities markets, though concerns about a global economic slowdown limited the rise.

Hong Kong stocks rose 430.53 points, or 2.43 percent, to close at 18,141.59 on Tuesday. The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 18,041.70 and 18,456.16. Turnover totaled HK$83.60 billion ($10.74 billion).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 387.79 points, or 4.37 percent, to close at 9,257.34.

Three sub-indices gained ground, with the Finance sub-index rising the most by 4.06 percent, followed by the Properties 1.78 percent, and the Commerce and Industry 1.41 percent. The Utility dropped 1.60 percent.

Central Huijin, the domestic investment arm of China's $400 billion sovereign-wealth fund, said on Monday it had started buying shares of China's four biggest banks.

Agricultural Bank of China rose 12.83 percent on Tuesday to HK$2.99, retreating from a 15.8 percent gain earlier in the day. Bank of China was 7.7 percent higher at HK$2.65, after rising 9.8 percent earlier.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 6.7 percent to HK$4.31 and China Construction Bank was 5.8 percent higher at HK$5.11.

The index also got a boost from Wall Street's rise on Monday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.97 percent higher at 11,433.18, after France and Germany pledged to resolve the euro- zone's banking and sovereign debt troubles.

Among other blue chips, HKEX, the city's sole bourse operator, jumped 6.7 percent to HK$117.40. Hang Seng Bank rose 0.5 percent to HK$93.40.