Esprit Holdings gained 4.28 per cent in Friday morning trading in Hong Kong, settling at HK$7.55 by midsession, after listing 162.3 million X public trade type shares. Volume exceeded 170 million shares and the stock had gained around 10 per cent at one stage.
Cheung Kong Holdings edged up 0.52 per cent to HK$114.40 after Bank of America Merrill Lynch issued a favourable appraisal of its 2016 earnings growth based on forthcoming deals in Europe.
Winshine Entertainment and Media was pummeled when it resumed trading on Friday, diving 23 per cent to HK$1.35 at lunch, after announcing it had committed US$500 million (HK$3.88 billion) to joint venture partner JAC Capital.
The funds are earmarked for the acquisition of a Netherlands electronics company, supplementing Winshine’s existing toys and consumer goods business. The midsession price was an improvement after the stock dipped below HK$1 at one point.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing led turnover with just over HK$3 billion, slipping 1.86 per cent to HK$263.60 on its sixth consecutive day of declines. The share price is at its lowest point since the spike of early April but remains well above its pre-spike level.
On Friday morning, Ashley Alder, chief executive of the Securities and Futures Commission, told reporters that HKEX would have the final say on its proposal to introduce weighted voting rights. The SFC opposes the proposal.