HSBC restarts buybacks after rates and wealth boost H1 profit

HONG KONG/LONDON, Aug 4 : HSBC Holdings reported a better-than-expected first-half profit and raised its net interest income target, driven by revenue growth in lending and wealth management fee earnings on robust money flows.Europe's largest bank posted a pretax profit of $19.5 billion for the first six months of this year, up 23 per cent from $15.8 billion a year earlier and ahead of the $18.9 billion that analysts forecast.HSBC's solid performance reflects the payoff of its Asian focus, where an overhaul targeting wealth and cross-border banking drove fee income growth alongside a favourable rate backdrop.It also caps a strong earnings season for Europe's big banks, which have extended a more than two-year-long recovery thanks to a surge in trading activity and resilient interest income