Hong Kong one-hundred dollar and five-hundred dollar banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, April 23, 2020. (PAUL YEUNG / BLOOMBERG)

Demand for Hong Kong dollars is intensifying, with Chinese mainland buying helping to buoy both the pegged currency and local stock market.

The HKMA sold a combined HK$15.8 billion to purchase the greenback on Wednesday, the biggest intervention since it started defending the peg on the strong end of the trading band in late April

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a combined HK$13.4 billion (US$1.7 billion) to purchase the greenback on , Thursday, taking the total it has spent this year to keep the local currency from strengthening further to US$13.5 billion.

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Some Trump aides are considering plans to undermine the peg mechanism. Mainland-based investors showed their support for the special administrative region through buying more than US$1 billion worth of Hong Kong shares on the day.

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“Bullish sentiment is pushing short-term funds and liquidity into Hong Kong,” said Banny Lam, managing director at CEB International Capital Corp. “China’s stock market is very hot and you see a lot of people using the stock connect to buy these shares. All these factors are attracting liquidity.”

The Hong Kong dollar traded at 7.75 versus the greenback at 5:48 pm local time Thursday. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent at close.

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