China, Hong Kong stocks close mixed as investors weigh growth prospects amid virus outbreak
- Death of 34-year-old doctor who first alerted public to deadly virus depresses sentiment in Hong Kong
- People’s Bank of China says damage to economy will be temporary
China and Hong Kong ended in a mixed note as traders reassessed the impact of the novel coronavirus that has been ravaging the mainland.
While the mainland’s benchmarks rebounded for a fourth consecutive day on Friday following the sell-off earlier in the week, the city’s stock gauge ended up lower on profit-taking pressure.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 per cent to 2,875.96, trimming its weekly loss to 3.4 per cent this week after a 7.7 per cent rout on Monday. The ChiNext gauge of smaller companies added 0.2 per cent, extending the gain for the five-day period to 4.6 per cent and making it the first major benchmark to recuperate all the loss triggered by the sell-off. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.3 per cent to 27,404.27, capping a 4.2 per cent gain for the week.
“There is some selling pressure across industries but it is a normal reaction as there is a more cautious sentiment,” said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director of VC Asset Management in Hong Kong.
In the latest progress in tracing the source of the viral outbreak, the pangolin has been identified as the potential intermediary host, with the virus strain gleaned from the mammal 99 per cent akin to the one that is infecting humans, Guangzhou-based South China Agricultural University said at a press conference on Friday morning. Meanwhile, China’s highest anti-corruption agency said it was sending an investigation team to Hubei, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, following public outrage over the death of a local doctor that first alerted the public of the new ailment.