HONG KONG: China stocks fell on Thursday, as money managers offloaded new energy shares to snap up property developers on reports of forthcoming government support, while cautious investors focused on the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next week.
Shares of technology giants and biotech firms, however, lifted the Hong Kong market.
China, Hong Kong stocks slump on bets of aggressive Fed rate hikes
** China’s blue-chip CSI 300 Index lost 0.7% by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index was down 1%.
** Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.5%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.6%.
** Other Asian equities were steady but fragile, a day after broad sell-offs as investors weighed the risk of the Fed announcing a 100 basis point interest rate.
** “Investors are still in a wait-and see attitude as you can see from the weak trade volume today in Hong Kong,” said Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Group, adding that the big rate hike worries will continue to weigh on the capital inflows.
** China’s Chengdu city will lift a full COVID-19 lockdown in all districts still facing strict movement curb.
** Five of China’s largest banks cut personal deposit rates, a move that could ease the pressure on their margins after recent lending rate cuts to revive the economy.
** Southern city of Guangzhou will allow reductions in home prices to 20% from 6% previously, the first top-tier cities to do so, Chinese financial news outlet Yicai reported.
** Property stocks led the gains, with the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index jumping over 4% , while China’s CSI Real Estate Index rose 2.6%.
** New energy shares tumbled 4.7%, semiconductor names dropped 2.9%, while shares in automobiles went down 3.3%, and consumer discretionary lost 2.2%, respectively.
** Chinese drug services providers Wuxi Bio rebounded 6.7% after slumping over 20% in the past two days.
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