HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday, led by automobile stocks and selected internet stocks in Hong Kong, as investors’ concern about China’s recovery resurfaced after weaker-than-expected data this week dampened risk-on appetite.
** Investors also worried that the US non-farm payrolls report due on Friday could spur more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
** China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index dropped 1.12% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.15%.
** Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng was down 2.46%; the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index dropped 2.47%.
** Asian markets were also driven lower on Friday by bank stocks, as MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped to a two-month low.
** “This week’s economic indicators, for example, the worse-than-expected 10.2% drop in January and February import data, has revived investors’ concerns about the pace of economic recovery in China and weighed on sentiments in Hong Kong,” said Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities.
** On Thursday, China reported consumer price index (CPI) for February 1.0% higher than a year earlier, rising at the slowest pace since February 2022 and indicating cautious consumption sentiment.
Hong Kong stocks start with small gains
** Automobile stocks in both China and Hong Kong led key indexes lower on weak sales momentum for new cars.
** CSI All Share Automobiles Index plunged 4.31%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index sank 3.61%, weighed by automobile stocks such as BYD Co and Geely Auto.
** Hong Kong shares of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com tumbled 11.77% leading the decliners in the Hang Seng Index after its 7.1% revenue growth for the fourth-quarter 2022 missed estimates.
** Shares of Asia-focussed insurer AIA Group Ltd fell as much as 4% after reporting that its value of new business (VONB), which measures expected profits from new premiums and is a key gauge for future growth, slid 8% to $3.09 billion last year.
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