Hong Kong and China stocks lose ground as investors worry over economic outlook
- Markets’ recent momentum could slow as latest data adds to trade war uncertainty, analyst says
- China and Hong Kong stocks seen as outperformers relative to US markets
Hong Kong and China stocks closed lower on Wednesday as uncertainties over the mainland’s economic outlook resurfaced.
The Hang Seng Index fell 113.42 points, or 0.39 per cent, narrowing morning losses to close at 28,807.45.
In the mainland, the ChiNext Index, which tracks smaller companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s tech board, was the biggest decliner among Chinese benchmarks, dropping 4.49 per cent, or 79.57 points, to 1,693.86.
The Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.09 per cent, or 33.36 points at 3,026.95.
The benchmark has risen 21 per cent thus far this year, helped by the quadrupling of weightings of Chinese stocks into MSCI global benchmarks compiler earlier this month, one analyst said.
Traders said uncertainty surrounding the slowdown in the mainland’s economic growth, which has been compounded by the uncertain outcome of the US-China trade negotiations, could slow down the markets’ momentum seen in the previous two months.