Stocks erase losses as Chinese power companies rebound on tariff hike outlook while Evergrande soars on asset sale plan

Hang Seng Index completed a three-day advance as Chinese power producers recouped losses on tariff speculation

Meituan, Tencent, Alibaba pared losses while some manufacturers suffered from power shutdown in many mainland provinces

Reading Time:2 minutes

A screen showing the Hang Seng index levels outside a bank branch in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 11:09am, 29 Sep 2021Updated: 7:32pm, 4 Oct 2021

Hong Kong stocks advanced for a third day as Chinese power producers rebounded on speculation the government will consider lifting electricity prices to shore up supply amid forced outages.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.7 per cent to 24,633.50 at the close of trading on Wednesday while the Hang Seng Tech Index pared losses to 0.8 per cent from as much as 2.3 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.8 per cent in the biggest pullback in six weeks.

Datang Power jumped 2.1 per cent to HK$1.46 while Huadian Power added 1.7 per cent to HK$3.08 and China Gas Holdings surged 2.7 per cent to HK$22.50.

The Chinese government is considering allowing power generators to charge higher prices for industrial consumers, Bloomberg reported, citing people it did not identify. The move is aimed at spurring producers to boost supply amid a power crisis that has disrupted production and public facilities this month.

Traders were worried about the state of power outages in mainland China after major manufacturing provinces started curbing electricity production to conserve energy for winter and to control emissions. Hua Hong Semiconductor slipped 3.5 per cent to HK$40.45. Zijin Mining tumbled 2.8 per cent to HK$9.55.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x