Update | Financials led by StanChart and HSBC drag Hong Kong index lower
Shares of energy companies buoyed by rise in crude oil prices
Hong Kong stocks fell for a third time in four days on Thursday, as traders sold financial companies to take profits from the best-performing sector this quarter after their earnings releases.
The Hang Seng Index retreated 0.3 per cent, or 75.42 points, to 28,518.64 at the close. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or the H-share gauge, also fell 0.3 per cent to 11,598.36. Mainland’s stock benchmark fell for the first time in three days.
A measure of financial stocks on the Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7 per cent on Thursday for the biggest decline among industry groups. Even after the loss, it still remains 4.5 per cent up this quarter, the best performer among the four sub-indexes under the Hang Seng gauge, as investors bought banks and insurers as a proxy for China and global economies that are all showing signs of strength in growth.
“The market had a lot of expectations on the performance of banks, and their recent earnings reports mostly matched the expectations,” said Gordon Tsui, managing director of Hantec Pacific. “Investors are now selling stocks to take profits.”
HSBC Holdings lost 1 per cent to HK$75.85 and AIA fell 0.8 per cent to HK$59.65.
Standard Chartered tumbled 5.9 per cent to HK$73.55, despite posting a 78 per cent jump in pre-tax profits for the third quarter on Wednesday.
ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance, China’s first internet-only insurer, lost 1.3 per cent to HK$77.30, trimming its gain to 29 per cent since its debut in September. The company will probably be picked by the government as one of the two H-share companies in a trial programme to convert non-tradeable shares held by big shareholders into ordinary ones that can be freely bought and sold on the Hong Kong stock market, Caixin reported, citing unidentified sources.