Hong Kong-listed stocks welcomed the Year of the Dragon with their second most auspicious Lunar New Year debut performance in 12 years. Resuming trade after a five-day holiday, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.63% to 20,439.14 points – its highest closing since September. That was the second-best Lunar New Year debut in more than a decade, beaten only by a bullish 4.48% rise on the first trading day in the Year of the Ox in 2009. The 1.63% gain on January 27 also matched exactly the increase on the first trading day of the last dragon year, in 2000. The stock market reacted to the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to prolong its target for keeping interest rates ultra-low until late 2014. The Fed said last year it would target low interest rates – currently 0% to 0.25% – until 2013.