Hong Kong stocks slide as risk appetite wanes, China’s growth eases amid Covid-19 challenges

Hang Seng Index slipped as government reports showed economic activity in mainland China cooled in July, trailing market forecasts

BYD, Meituan and Geely Auto led declines as market suffered a third day of setback

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China’s economic growth lost momentum in July as Covid-19 weighed on factory production and consumption. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:47am, 16 Aug 2021Updated: 6:43pm, 16 Aug 2021

Hong Kong stocks declined amid concerns a resurgence in coronavirus cases in mainland China will dent appetite for risk. Government reports on Monday signalled the Chinese economy lost further growth momentum last month.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.8 per cent to 26,181.46 at the close of Monday trading, its third day of setback. China’s Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 were little changed, paring an advance of as much as 0.3 per cent.

Delivery platform operator Meituan dropped 5.1 per cent to HK$221.40. Electronic lens maker Sunny Optical and WeChat owner Tencent Holdings also slid before reporting their interim results to shareholders this week.

China’s economy continues to face an unstable and uneven trajectory, after an outbreak of Delta variant in several provinces triggered more lockdowns and travel curbs. Gains in retail sales and industrial production slowed in July from a year earlier, easing further from June and trailing forecasts by analysts, official reports showed.

“Investors don’t have too high expectations for the earnings results of tech companies, so we can see their stock prices turning weak ahead of the announcement,” said Stanley Chan, director of research at Emperor Securities.