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Hong Kong stocks post third quarterly loss as Chinese manufacturing contracts, US digs in heels on delistings deal
- China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index dropped to 49.5 in March, the first time it has dipped below 50 in five months
- US watchdogs quelled speculation about a deal to retain the listing status of about 200 Chinese companies trading on American bourses
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Hong Kong stocks capped a third straight quarterly loss on Thursday after a contraction in Chinese manufacturing deepened concerns about a further slowdown in growth, and the risk of China’s offshore companies being thrown off American bourses lingered.
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The Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1 per cent to 21,996.85 at the close. The benchmark posted a 6 per cent decline for the quarter after a wild ride exacerbated by panic selling amid geopolitical tensions and dip-buying spurred by Beijing’s pledge to arrest a decline in stocks and growth.
The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 1.4 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped by 0.4 per cent.
Clothes maker Shenzhou International Group Holdings, Wuxi Biologics and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group led losses on the Hang Seng Index, retreating at least 4.9 per cent each.
China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index dropped to 49.5 in March, according to the statistics bureau, the first time it has dipped below 50 in five months. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. The reading trailed the median estimate of 49.8 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
China, which is sticking to a zero-Covid strategy, is grappling with the most severe resurgence of the pandemic since its first outbreak at the end of 2019. Shanghai, its biggest commercial city, is now in a two-phase lockdown, while the technology hub of Shenzhen has just brought the epidemic under control after a week-long cooping-up.
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