HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks inched higher on Tuesday as investors remained cautiously positive and awaited news from high-level US-China trade talks in London, while weak Chinese economic data fuelled expectations of more stimulus from Beijing.
The trade talks extended to a second day as top economic officials from the world’s two largest economies sought to defuse a bitter dispute that has widened from tariffs to restrictions over rare earths, threatening a global supply chain shock and slower economic growth.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 0.2% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose a moderate 0.1%.
In Hong Kong, both benchmark Hang Seng and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index went up 0.3%.
“US-China talks are definitely the focus for markets this week, yet after the first day of negotiations we’re seeing that markets are relatively flat,” said Sean Teo, a sales trader at Saxo in Singapore.
The two parties are negotiating more complex strategic issues like rare earths, semiconductors and student visas which is unlikely to be resolved in this meeting alone, he said, so markets are taking a more wait-and-see approach after the initial optimism.
The meeting comes at a critical time when China’s exports to the US plunged 34.5% in May, while its domestic deflationary pressures worsened.
Chinese and Hong Kong stocks gain ahead of Sino-US trade talks
By midday, real estate and healthcare stocks led the gains, with Hang Seng Mainland Properties gaining 3% and Hang Seng Healthcare up 2.6%.
An index tracking onshore pharma and biotech companies also advanced 0.9%. But defense stocks dropped 1.7%.
Weaker-than-expected trade and inflation data on Monday is adding to investor hopes of more government stimulus, Bob Savage, head of markets macro strategy at BNY, said in a note.
China will provide social insurance subsidies to eligible college graduates and individuals with employment difficulties, raise minimum wage standards, and increase the supply of affordable housing, according to new government guidelines released on Monday.
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