Hong Kong stocks complete longest losing streak in 10 weeks on casino slump, US rate outlook
- A weaker-than-expected job report clouds monetary policies while Yellen says higher rates could be a plus for the US and Federal Reserve
- WH Group surged 7.7 per cent after offering as much as US$1.93 billion to buy back 13 per cent of its capital at a premium to market
The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.5 per cent to 28,787.28 at the close. A four-day slide marked the benchmark’s worst sequence since March 25. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent after official reports showing both exports and imports increased in May, but below market expectations.
Other big losers on Friday included Geely Auto, which slid 5.2 per cent to HK$21.10, Xiaomi Corp which tumbled 4.1 per cent to HK$28.35 and Tencent Holdings which slumped 1.8 per cent to HK$600.50.
In Friday’s job report, the US employment rate fell to 5.8 per cent in May from 6.1 per cent in April, as companies added 559,000 jobs. Meanwhile, US workers’ wages registered strong gains, adding pressure on the Federal Reserve to fine-tune its monetary policy to balance growth and inflation risks.
“The May non-farm payrolls report showed that the economy is still far from showing substantial progress with the labour market recovery,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda.