SHANGHAI: China stocks ended lower on Thursday, dragged by the financial sector following weak earnings at some lenders, and a correction in stock prices of some major state banks. Hong Kong shares rose, led by tech shares.
China’s CSI Financials index lost 1.8%, with Xiamen Bank down 6.9% after the lender reported a 15% decline in half-year net profit on Wednesday.
Shares of Citic Bank and Bank of Communications were both down nearly 7% in Hong Kong.
Shares of major Chinese state banks have soared this year, with most up over 20%. Shares of Agriculture Bank of China hit a record high on Wednesday, but closed 4.7% lower on Thursday.
UBS on Wednesday cut its 2024 economic growth forecast for China to 4.6% from 4.9%, as it expects weaker property activity to have bigger than previously assumed drag on the overall economy.
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Shares of electric vehicle makers Li Auto were down 9.8%. However, Meituan rose 12.6% after releasing second quarter earnings.
At the close of trade, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5% at 2,823.11.
The blue-chip CSI 300 index was down 0.27% with its financial sub-index down 2.05%, while the consumer staples sector rose 1.78% and the healthcare sub-index climbed 1.34%.
In contrast, the smaller Shenzhen index ended up 1.13% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.65%.
The Hang Seng index ended 93.87 points or 0.53% higher at 17,786.32. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.34% to 6,247.13.
Tech giants traded in Hong Kong were up 0.5%, bucking a slump in regional technology shares after Nvidia’s forecast disappointed investors.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.16%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 0.02%.
The yuan was quoted at 7.1078 per U.S. dollar as 0759 GMT, 0.3% firmer than the previous close of 7.129.
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