SINGAPORE: Hong Kong shares made a weak finish to the zodiac year in a session shortened by the festive break, with the absence of mainland buyers leaving the market to drift lower on Friday.
At the early close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 131.49 points or 0.83% at 15,746.58.
For the week it rose 1.4%, but for the zodiac year of the rabbit just ended, it dropped 28.6% as investors have streamed out of Chinese assets while the economy stuttered.
Hong Kong markets are closed until Feb. 14, while mainland China markets are closed until Feb. 19. Dealers said trade was quiet and the lack of inflow from the mainland contributed to the soft session.
“With China on holidays, that stock connect flow has been missing,” said Steven Leung on the sales desk at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong. He said investors hope that mainland authorities will announce support for the markets during the holidays.
The top gainer on the Hang Seng was clothier and sports gear seller Anta Sports, up 1.8%. Logistics firm Orient Overseas (International) was the biggest loser, falling 8.5%.
745.47 million Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 31.7% of the market’s 30-day moving average of 2.35 billion shares.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Hang Seng index was just 7.12, compared to 25.2 for the S&P 500.
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