Hong Kong stocks hit 4-year high as China’s weak economic signals spark stimulus bets

The Hang Seng Index added 0.2 per cent to 26,446.56 as of the close of trading, the highest level since August 12, 2021. The Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 0.9 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index added 0.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 per cent.

Electric-vehicle maker BYD added 3.4 per cent to HK$108.10, while peer Li Auto gained 4.6 per cent to HK$97.55. Online-game provider NetEase advanced 1.8 per cent to HK$240.60, and e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding rose 2.3 per cent to HK$154.60. Battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology jumped 7.4 per cent to HK$465 – the highest level since its May listing in Hong Kong – after JPMorgan Chase upgraded the firm to overweight on strong earnings prospects.

Toymaker Pop Mart slumped 6.4 per cent to HK$259 after JPMorgan downgraded its shares to neutral, citing a lack of catalysts and an unattractive valuation. Search-engine giant Baidu fell 2.4 per cent to HK$112.30, while Ping An Insurance Group slid 1.4 per cent to HK$56.30 and mainland developer China Resources Land slipped 1.8 per cent to HK$32.36.

New home prices across 70 major mainland cities fell 0.3 per cent in August from the previous month, the 27th consecutive month of decline since May 2023, official data showed on Monday. Meanwhile, retail sales rose by 3.4 per cent in August from a year earlier, missing the 3.82 per cent forecast in a poll by financial data provider Wind and falling short of July’s 3.7 per cent growth, according to official data on Monday.

“Markets, as always, run the bad-news-is-good-news algorithm,” said Stephen Innes, a managing partner at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok. “Weaker prints push traders to mark down rates, yields ease, equities hold, and the logic becomes circular: the softer the data, the bigger the expected policy push.”