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Traders monitor the prices of companies on their screens in the Hong Kong stock market as small cap shares posted the biggest gains and losses on Thursday before the May 1 holiday when the markets are closed. Photo: EPA

New | Small cap stocks post biggest gains, losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai before holiday break

Penny and small-cap stocks took centre stage in the Hong Kong and Shanghai equity markets on Thursday as they posted the biggest gains and losses in the market and in front of a holiday weekend.

The biggest gainer in Hong Kong stock as of Thursday noon was Grand Investment International which jumped 76.8 per cent to HK$1.68, but the total value traded was only HK$1.5 million. The biggest loser was CIL Holdings, which trades interior decoration materials, communication equipment and consumer electronic products, whose share price plunged 21.1 per cent to 11.6 Hong Kong cents by Thursday noon.

Part of the reason for the huge jump in Grand Investment’s share price is its business of share investment, which caused investors to believe the company will make substantial capital gains from its investment in the booming Hong Kong and Shanghai stock market, said Louis Tse, a director of VC Brokerage.

“When the market starts peaking out, the speculation will be on smaller stocks. That has been the trend all these years. So the focus switched from H-shares which have gone up so much and now they focus on the second and third liners,” said Louis Tse, a director of VC Brokerage.

The four most actively traded Hong Kong stocks were big-cap stocks, led by Wynn Macau, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), China Construction Bank and Ping An in that order. But Wynn Macau, China Construction Bank and Ping An sagged by 1.73 per cent, 1.43 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively, while HKEX rose by 1.63 per cent.

In contrast, the second biggest loser on the Hong Kong bourse, BEP International Holdings, a manufacturer and seller of kettles, irons and coffee grinders, plunged 16.3 per cent to HK$3.14 by Thursday noon.

The sharp drop in the share prices of BEP and CIL on Thursday morning was probably due to profit taking, said Tse.

BEP’s share price had risen from HK$1.19 last Friday to HK$3.75 on Wednesday, while CIL’s stock price had soared from 9 Hong Kong cents on April 22 to 14.7 Hong Kong cents on Wednesday.

“This is profit taking because there has been a lot of gains,” Tse said.

Both markets will be closed on Friday for Labour Day. Trading resumes on Monday.

 

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