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Georgina Lee

Deb Price

So China markets took a sudden dive at the end of the day. The Hang Seng fell to a near four-week low.
Catch up on the action below.
See you tomorrow.
-- Georgina Lee and Deb Price in Hong Kong 


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Hong Kong IPO: Chinese soy sauce maker Foshan Haitian eyes dual listing

Stocks

Stocks Blog:  China markets take sudden dive 

The bears suddenly came out in the afternoon in China markets. Photo: Alamy


Photo: Alamy

Amazon’s cloud business to launch in Hong Kong as competition with Chinese rivals heats up

Attendees at Amazon.com’s annual cloud computing conference walk past the Amazon Web Services logo in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 30, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Werner Vogels, the chief technology officer at Amazon.com. Photo: Handout

Business

Markets

Economy

Kweichow Moutai gets price target boost after better-than-expected Q1 results
Gigadevice Semiconductor Beijing upgraded to overweight by Morgan Stanley


We cover the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets for you, keeping you up with the most important moves and offering you what experts think is ahead.


China stock market

China economy

Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Live

Here's what we are watching this morning:
Overnight markets/ What futures foretell
-- Overnight in US markets, S&P 500 fell 0.22 per cent,  Nasdaq slipped 0.23 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.22 per cent.
-- Hong Kong futures are down 0.37 per cent, while the China A50 futures are down 0.15 per cent.
IPO debuts:
Lakala Payment (300773 CH) on Shenzhen ChiNext board
Corporate earnings:
Aier Eye Hospital (300015 CH)
Air China (601111 CH)
Bank of Beijing (601169 CH)
Citic Bank (998 HK)
China Life (2628 HK)
Merchants Securities (600999 CH)
China Shenhua (1088 HK)
CNPC Capital (000617 CH)
CATL (300750 CH)
CSC Financial (6066 HK)
Haitian Flavouring (603288 CH)
Haitong Securities (600837 CH)
Hithink RoyalFlush (300033 CH)
Huaneng Power (902 HK)
Huayu Auto (600741 CH)
Yili Industrial (600887 CH)
Meinian Onehealth (002044 CH)
China Postal Bank (1658 HK)
Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town (000069 CH)
Sinopec Shanghai (600688 CH)
Sinopharm (1099 HK)
Yonghui Superstores (601933 CH)
Dahua Technology (002236 CH)
Good reads: Xinyang Maojian Group to shift to tea from chemicals production, reports Yujing Liu. Peter T. Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg L.P., explains why the opening of China’s financial market – in particular, its bond market – is one of the biggest changes in the history of global capital markets.
 
 


Morning guidance 

The second-largest shareholder of Xinyang Maojian Group (362 HK) is shifting its focus to tea farming and drinks from chemicals production, reports Yujing Liu.
“The chemicals industry has been suffering a downturn and the market is very bad,” said Sha Tao, who is on the verge of increasing his stock to a controlling stake of 27.51 per cent. Last week, he reached an agreement to acquire 146 million shares held by Chan Yuen Tung, its founder and controlling shareholder. He will purchase another 220 million shares Chan owns in separate transactions.
“We will switch our main business to the big health industry,” he said, referring to a sector that covers tea farming, food and drink production and tourism.
The shift marks another step in the back-door listing of Chinese tea company Xinyang Maojian, formerly known as China Zenith Chemical Group, a company that primarily operated chemicals plants in northeastern China.
Read full story here. 
 


Xinyang Maojian Group to shift to tea from chemicals production

Lohas Park has drawn 11 bids for the latest phase of its residential development in the New Territories, as developers vie for the land parcel near the sole shopping centre in Hong Kong’s largest residential community, reports Zheng Yangpeng.
Eleven bids were submitted for the plot, which can accommodate up to 1,850 homes on 950,000 square feet (88,200 square metres) of gross floor area. That translates into more than one fifth of the 8,800 private flats expected to be built on the 15 private residential sites to be sold by the government in the coming planning period.
The bidders made up the Who’s Who of Hong Kong’s property industry, including CK Asset Holdings, Henderson Land Development , Wheelock, New World Development, Kerry Properties and China Overseas Land & Investment, according to the Mingpao newspaper.
The strong response underscores the recovery in Hong Kong’s residential property market, following a five-month correction between August 2018 and January this year. Prices of both new and lived-in homes resumed their upwards tick in the city, as a dovish monetary policy by the de facto central bank eased concerns of rising mortgage rates, while an expected end to the US-China trade war improved confidence.
Read full story here.
 


Lohas Park's strong appeal underscores recovery in Hong Kong's residential property market

Laura Cha Shih May-lung, the first woman to head bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, will earn HK$3.3 million (US$420,825) in the financial year starting April 1, a 51 per cent increase over 2018, after shareholders approved new pay packages for non-executive directors in an annual general meeting, reports Enoch Yiu.
Cha’s pay stood at HK$2.19 million last year, and her new pay is 57 per cent higher than Chow Chung-kong’s, her predecessor, who earned HK$2.1 million in his last year as chairman until April 2018.
Read full story here.
 


Huge pay boost for head of Hong Kong's exchange operator 

Hong Kong and China stocks opened lower, with the Hang Seng dropping 0.3 per cent, to 29,715.
The CSI 300, which tracks blue chips listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, was down 0.5 per cent, or 20.31 points at 4,009.78, while the Shanghai Component Index dropped 0.43 per cent, or 13.86 points, to 3,187.75.
This week, concerns about China central bank shifting away from broad, stronger easing measures have affected sentiment in Hong Kong, market watchers say.
Some market watchers expect the Hang Seng will continue to trade in a narrow range. Since early April, it has approached close to 30,000 points, but not been able to break above that level.
On Wednesday, the Hang Seng index dropped to its lowest level in three weeks, after losing 0.53 per cent.
Both China and Hong Kong markets are poised for the release of a slew of corporate earnings, mostly quarterly, from financial stocks such as China Life (2628 HK), Citic Bank (998 HK), China Postal Bank (1658 HK) and the Bank of Beijing (601169 CH).
-- Georgina Lee


Hong Kong, mainland markets open lower

CRRC's H shares (1766 HK) were downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs, with its price target lowered to HK7.70 from HK$9.30. That would be an 8.5 per cent increase from Wednesday's close. 
Bloomberg Intelligence expects the locomotives maker will continue to have a supply bottleneck and declining order balance. But, it wrote on March 29, "Sales and earnings growth should be stronger in 2019 vs. last year fueled by wider margins and faster subway car delivery, reflecting China's stepped-up rail construction push." 
Of analysts tracked by Bloomberg, 17 call the H shares a buy, four a hold and two a sell, with a target price of HK$8.68, or a 22 per cent rise from its Wednesday close.
This morning, it is trading down 0.7 per cent to HK$7.05 in a falling market.  
-- Deb Price
 


CRRC's H shares downgraded to neutral by Goldman Sachs

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Gigadevice Semiconductor Beijing (603986 CH) to overweight from underweight, and raised its price target to 120 yuan from 52 yuan. That would be a 14 per cent jump from Wednesday's close.
It's been on fire this year, up 76 per cent as on its Wednesday close.
It was last trading up a tiny 0.05 per cent, to 105.08 yuan.
-- Deb Price 
 

 


 Gigadevice Semiconductor Beijing upgraded to overweight by Morgan Stanley

We may be living in unpredictable times, but I truly believe the opening of China’s financial market – in particular, its bond market – is one of the biggest changes in the history of global capital markets, writes Peter T. Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg L.P.
China’s US$13 trillion bond market is now the third largest in the world, but still largely unexplored by global investors. 
That is likely to change with the wave of rules in China’s bond market, designed to make Chinese bonds more attractive to foreign investors. With new access channels added to its vast bond markets, including those recently launched by Bloomberg, access is no longer a challenge. And with major benchmark indices adding Chinese equities and bonds to trillions worth of global portfolios, China’s markets have never looked more promising.
As the Greater Bay Area develops, Hong Kong’s competitive advantages will become more important. The city’s vibrant offshore renminbi business, increased connectivity through the Stock Connect and Bond Connect schemes, the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) and qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) schemes, the implementation of mutual recognition of funds, its development of green finance, among many other initiatives, are creating new ways for both mainland and international companies to invest in and benefit from China’s continued growth.
Despite the tumultuous times we live in, the Greater Bay Area is emerging as a great example of the opportunities and “can-do” spirit of this “new investing age”. The area gives Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong a coordinated mission, unleashing their full potential to rival the likes of London, New York and Tokyo, while in turn acting as a catalyst for positive structural and economic change within China.
 
Read full opinion piece here.
 


Huge change ahead as China continues opening up capital markets, Bloomberg commentator writes

Jack Ma, chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba, told a Hong Kong legislator that he “still hopes to get Alibaba listed in Hong Kong,” the Hong Kong Economic Times reported. 
Alibaba opted to list on New York Stock Exchange in 2014 via a mega US$25 billion initial public offering. At that point, the Hong Kong stock exchange had not introduced rules to enable companies with dual-class share structure to get listed on its board. That changed in April 2018, after the Hong Kong bourse overhauled its listing rules to enable for companies with weighted voting rights structure to get listed on its board.
Hong Kong legislator Christopher Cheung said Ma “seems to feel that it is regrettable for not having Alibaba listed in Hong Kong. Cheung visited Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou with other Hong Kong lawmakers.
It is not the first time that Ma has talked about listing in Hong Kong. In January 2018, he made a similar comment at a fireside chat with Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
-- Georgina Lee


Alibaba Group 'hopes to get listed in Hong Kong', news outlet quotes Jack Ma as saying

Shares of HKBN (1310 HK), a fixed telecom network service provider in Hong Kong, got a boost after Morgan Stanley raised its target price to HK$17, from HK$15.2, and reiterated its “overweight” rating.
The new target price indicates a 22 per cent upside from its Wednesday closing price of HK$13.9. The investment bank’s move comes after the Hong Kong regulator earlier this month approved its merger with WTT Holding, an enterprise-focused fixed telecom services operator.

Analysts including Yang Liu wrote in a note dated Wednesday that it forecast a 9 per cent year-on-year growth in its first half revenue this year, and 15 per cent increase in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interests, tax, depreciation and amortization). Its results are due out on April 30.
HKBN was up 2.3 per cent, at HK$14.22, its highest level since September 2018.
-- Georgia Lee 


HKBN rises after Morgan Stanley’s raises target price 

Chinese liquor king Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) reported a 32 per cent jump in net income to 11.2 billion yuan in the first quarter. Its statement after market hours showed revenue at 21.6 billion yuan, a 24 per cent increase.
The first quarter results were better than its pre-announcement, prompting Bank of America Merrill Lynch to raise its price target by 8 per cent to 1,060 yuan, Bloomberg News reported. 
Shares of the maker of high-end baijiu are extremely popular with northbound traders on the stock connect programme. It was up 64.4 per cent for the year as of Wednesday's close.
Of analysts tracked by Bloomberg, 34 call it a buy, zero a hold and one a sell, with a consensus price target of 945.76 yuan, which is below where it is trading.
It was trading in Shanghai down 0.4 per cent to 966.22 yuan in a falling market.
-- Deb Price


Kweichow Moutai gets price target boost after better-than-expected Q1 results

China Tower (788 HK) fell 4 per cent to HK$2.19 after Bernstein called its valuation "overcooked."
Bernstein analysts downgraded China Tower to market perform from outperform. China Tower, which constructs telecommunications towers, was up 66 per cent this year as of Wednesday.
Bloomberg reports that Bernstein said many shareholders don't know that China Unicom and China Telecom will likely deploy a shared 5G network. "This should be a strong negative catalyst which could knock up to 20% off the price," Bloomberg quoted the Bernstein note as saying.
Meanwhile, Citi said the market is underestimating the Chinese company's 5G growth challenges, Bloomberg reported. 
"China Tower's telco revenue growth pressure, 5G growth challenges and national service responsibilities could limit its further rerating," Bloomberg reported of the Citi note, in which it maintained a neutral rating and rose the price target to HK$2.26.-- Deb Price 
 


China Tower falls 4 per cent after valuation called 'overcooked'

Wens Foodstuff (300498 CH), China’s biggest pig and poultry producer, said first quarter net profit sank into a loss of 460.46 million yuan, from a profit of 1.41 billion yuan a year ago, as lower selling prices of pig and poultry bit into profit margin. Operating revenue was up 6.22 per cent, at 13.97 billion yuan.
For the quarter, it sold 19.65 per cent more pigs compared to a year ago, to 5.96 million pigs. But it said margin was squeezed by a 4.69 per cent decline in the average selling price amid the ongoing African swine flu, pushing its pig farming business into a loss for the quarter.
The decline in the average selling price of chicken also dropped 14.78 per cent, it said.
Investors did not seem to be bothered by the news, as Wens Foodstuff shares rose to their highest level in over three-weeks, up 3.97 per cent at 43.75 yuan, rising in line with other pig-related stocks, such as Muyuan Foods (002714 CH), up 7.01 per cent at 73.3 yuan.
-- Georgina Lee



Wens Foodstuff shares up to 3-week high, bucking poor first quarter performance

Kitchen appliance maker Zhejiang Meida (002677 CH) had its recommendation lifted as Shenwan said the industry is at the fast-growing stage.
The brokerage said Zhejiang Meida should trade at more than 20 times its estimated earnings for this year, implying an at least 11 per cent expansion of the multiple.
First-quarter profit for the company increased 22 per cent from a year earlier, the company said in an exchange statement on Wednesday.
The stock added 5.9 per cent to 14.08 yuan at noon in Shenzhen, snapping a three-day decline.
-- Zhang Shidong
 


Zhejiang Meida upgraded to buy at Shenwan Hongyuan on earnings outlook

Small Chinese home builders are likely to face high liquidity risks in 2019 as banks tightened lending to property developers in 2018, according to a Fitch Ratings report.
Many smaller developers have to borrow at a high cost, which may lead some developers to exit the property development market. Fitch pointed out Tahoe Group (000732 SZ) and Sunshine 100 China Holdings (2608 HK) have sold large projects to bigger developers.
The average coupon rates for the developers who got a Fitch-rated 'B' category rose to 9.9 per cent in 2018, up from 7.5 per cent in 2017.
Ronshine China Holdings (3301 HK) issued US$300 million of three-year senior notes in February 2019 at a coupon rate of 10.5 per cent, higher than the 8.25 per cent for another issued a year earlier, according to Fitch.
Hong Kong JunFa Property priced its US$100 million two-year senior notes at 13 per cent last month.
-- Enoch Yiu


Small Chinese home builders to face high liquidity risks, Fitch Ratings reports

Real estate is one of the few bright spots on the struggling Hang Seng Index, with the sector up 1 per cent. 
Sun Hung Kai Properties (16 HK) was the Hang Seng's second top gainer, up 2.7 per cent to HK$136.80. Link REIT (823 HK) was up 1.9 per cent to HK$91.95, Wharf Real Estate Investment (1997) was up 1.5 per cent to HK$60.60, Sino Land was up 1.3 per cent to HK$14.04, Swire Pacific (19 HK) was up 1.2 per cent to HK$99.85, Country Garden (2007 HK) was up 1.1 per cent at HK$12.74 and New World Development (17 HK) was up 0.9 per cent at HK$13.22. 
Hong Kong’s residential property market is perking up, after a five-month correction between August 2018 and January this year. Prices of new and lived-in homes are headed back up. 
In afternoon trading, the Hang Seng has moved to gains and back to losses, and was recently down 0.1 per cent. 
-- Deb Price 
 


Real estate helping struggling Hang Seng 

More than 2,500 Chinese liquor manufacturers saw their combined profit jump 24 per cent in 2018, as a surge in baijiu sales offset a decline in wine consumption, according to data from industry group China Alcoholic Drinks Association.
That profit jump far exceeded the 7 per cent profit growth for all the Chinese companies listed on the A share market.
Total profit for these liquor manufacturers reached 147.65 billion yuan in 2018. Sales also increased 10 per cent to 821.3 billion yuan.
Among all types of alcoholic beverages, baijiu, the fiery Chinese spirit, saw its profit up the most. The figure rose 30 per cent to 125.05 billion yuan, making up 85 per cent of the overall industry's profit.
But the wine sector fared poorly.
Wine production dropped 7.4 per cent to 629.1 million liters. Revenue and profit also decreased, both down 9.5 per cent to 28.85 billion yuan and 3.063 billion yuan, respectively.
Other alcoholic beverages struggled as well.
Beer production merely increased 0.5 per cent to 38.12 billion liters, while its profit rose 5.6 per cent to 12.2 billion yuan. The revenue of Huangjiu -- literally yellow wine -- increased 5.4 per cent to 16.7 billion yuan, while profit declined 7.2 per cent to 1.72 billion yuan.
Chinese liquor king Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) reported a 32 per cent jump in net income to 11.2 billion yuan in the first quarter.  It was up 64.4 per cent for the year as of Wednesday's close, though it is trading down today by 1.24 per cent to 958 yuan.
-- Laura He
 


China's liquor industry profit jumps 24 per cent amid economic slowdown

Lakala Payment (300773 CH), one of the country’s earliest online payment providers backed by Legend Holdings, hit its first trading day limit of 44 per cent.
Its price rose to 47.92 yuan from its issue price of 33.28 yuan. A total of 1.64 million yuan worth of stocks changed hands.
The company was founded in 2005 and provides online payment services to retail customers and sells point-of-sale machines to retail businesses.
-- Georgina Lee


Debutante Lakala Payment shoots up 44%, hitting first-day limit on ChiNext board

Education stocks plunged broadly today, on the back of a media report that the government is tightening up the policies regarding the expansion of private schools in a new law to be released.
The draft of the controversial new law released in August has already created a cloud over private school operators, as a vaguely-worded clause suggests companies be banned from expanding through mergers and acquisition in the primary and middle school segments.
Chinese financial media outlet Caixin reported earlier today that a final version of the draft law has been approved, and changes in the wording of a few clauses may mean that such restrictions are more definite. Moreover, companies that used a variable interest entity (VIE) structure to have listed overseas may be forced to give up the structure, the report says.
In Hong Kong China Education Group (0839 HK) declined 4 per cent. Maple Leaf Education (1317 HK) retreated 5 per cent, Yuhua Education (6169 HK) was down 6 per cent and Wisdom Education (6068 HK) plunged 7 per cent.
-- Yujing Liu


Education stocks plunge on media report of tougher government policies

The US dollar index, which measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, crossed above the 98 level overnight for the first time in about two years, signalling its strength. Meanwhile, the onshore yuan has weakened to a near one-month low, at 6.7293 per dollar.
The exchange rate affects the appetite of foreign investors in China's equity markets, adding an additional factor to gains or losses in a share's price. If the yuan weakens from the point a trader buys the stock, she would likely suffer from exchange rate loss at the point she exits from her position, as then the trader would get less when selling the yuan-denominated stock and then converting to stronger US dollars.
A strong yuan signals a strong economy, which usually boosts stocks because it means a better overall business environment.
On February 25, for example, the yuan at one point strengthened to 6.6718 per dollar, its strongest value since July 2018. That day, the CSI 300 index tracking blue chips on the Shanghai  and Shenzhen went up nearly 6 per cent.
Khoon Goh, head of Asia research for ANZ, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that if the dollar index continues to rise, the renminbi could weaken to 6.75 against the dollar.
 
-- Georgina Lee

 


US dollar's strength adds complication to global traders' strategy in China

China markets took a sudden dive at the end of the day.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 2.4 percent, at 3,123.3.83 -- its biggest fall in nearly seven weeks.
On March 8, it fell 4.49 per cent.
In Shenzhen, the ChiNext Index of technology stocks closed down 2.8 per cent, to 1,669.98.
Their declines came amid net outflows recorded through the stock connect in Hong Kong for three consecutive days. Wednesday, the latest data available from the Hong Kong stock exchange, disclosed that a net outflow of 3.525 billion yuan was recorded from both Shanghai and Shenzhen northbound.
Ben Kwong, an executive director at KGI Asia, said that the strengthening of the US dollar has traditionally been unfavourable to emerging markets, including Chinese equities. The US dollar index, which measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, crossed above the 98 level overnight for the first time in about two years, signalling its strength.
“I see a broad trend of consolidation for the Chinese stock market for the month of May and June, he said. "With the dollar strengthening, a weakening of the yuan is not positive to Chinese equities market,” said Kwong, adding that investors are tending toward a negative bias on market news and then selling.
-- Deb Price and Georgina Lee  


China markets take sudden afternoon dive 

Chinese private school operator Wisdom Education (6068 HK) plans to expand aggressively in the Greater Bay Area in southern China by adding at least six new schools in the region over the next three years, company officials said.
The company, which now operates in total nine primary, middle and high schools across China, plans to double the number of enrolled students to over 100,000 in the next three to five years from the current 54,420, chief operating officer Li Jiuchang said during a press conference today.
“The development of the Greater Bay Area will create a huge demand for high-quality schools,” Li said. “The region will attract many talents and our company enjoys unrivaled opportunities in providing high-end K-12 education.” K-12 means from kindergarten to the 12th grade.
Wisdom Education has outperformed the Hang Seng Index this year, rising 63 per cent as of Wednesday's close compared to the benchmark's 14.7 per cent. It was last down 6.22 per cent, at HK$4.37, plunging along with other education stocks on the back of a media report pointing to stricter rules over schools’ expansion through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Li said the government policy tightening will not affect the company, because it plans to build most of the future schools by itself instead of acquiring existing ones.
The company in March established an education industry fund with a target size of 2.5 billion yuan in collaboration with an investment fund owned by the Guangzhou city government. Li said the company could absorb future schools build by the fund, as a way to go around the restrictions on M&A.
Wisdom Education is opening two new schools this year on top of the two projects located in Foshan and Yunfu in Guangdong province that have been already announced, Li said.
Wisdom Education on Wednesday reported a 33 per cent year-on-year jump in core net profit to 216 million yuan in the six months ended on February 28, 2019.
-- Yujing Liu


Wisdom Education aims big expansion in Greater Bay Area

China Minsheng Banking (1988 HK) slid 2.2 per cent, on the heels of influential shareholder activist David Webb saying it was "very likely" the unidentified "bank within a Mainland-based banking group" that triggered a warning circular against risky lending practices from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement Wednesday that the two had conducted joint inspections of an unidentified bank and other entities in Hong Kong, and found they had entered into a series of complex transactions that “give rise to a number of serious concerns”.
The de-facto central bank said these opaque financing arrangements may “conceal embedded financial risks and make it difficult to conduct rigorous risk assessment”.
Webb's website -- web-site.com -- said Mingsheng was "very likely" the unnamed bank, and its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary CMBC Capital (1141 HK) was part of the probe, too.
Minsheng Bank said in a statement it has a “complete” internal control system, and strictly complies with regulators’ requirements, according to Bloomberg, but did not address directly whether it was the subject of the Wednesday regulatory notice.
Shares of China Minsheng Banking closed down to  HK$5.86, while CMBC Capital fell 3.57 per cent, to 27 HK cents.
-- Georgina Lee


China Minsheng Banking falls after activist David Webb links it to regulatory warning letter

Hong Kong stocks dropped for the fifth trading day in a row, echoing the slides seen on the mainland.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 per cent to 29549.80, or down 256.03 points.
Some analysts said after Hong Kong's blue chip index racked up 14 per cent gain year-to-date, it is heading towards a period of correction that could last until June.
“The month of May has traditionally been a month of a ‘decliner’ for the Hang Seng Index, which has been the case for 15 out of the past 20 years,” said Ben Kwong, an executive director at KGI Asia, who added that such correction could last up to June.
Kwong attributed this week’s drop in the Hang Seng to a combination of the market concern over China central bank’s shift away from further broad easing moves and the risk of a strengthening US dollar, which could entice foreign investors to withdraw capital out of Hong Kong dollar and yuan assets. The US dollar index rose above the 98 level overnight for the first time in about two years.
Financial stocks led the index lower, with Ping An Insurance (2318 HK) down 2.12 per cent to HK$92.15, and China Construction Bank (939 HK) falling 0.72 per cent to HK$6.91.
-- Georgina Lee


Stocks Blog: China markets take sudden dive

Kweichow Moutai gets price target boost after better-than-expected Q1 results Gigadevice Semiconductor Beijing upgraded to overweight by Morgan Stanley

Kweichow Moutai gets price target boost after better-than-expected Q1 results

Gigadevice Semiconductor Beijing upgraded to overweight by Morgan Stanley