Hong Kong stocks log longest winning streak since February on China easing bets while liquidity concerns undermine developers

Stocks advanced for a fifth day as economic reports showed little signs of meaningful rebound in activity in October
The Beijing stock exchange kicked off trading with three-quarters of companies making a winning debut; rally faded at the close

Hong Kong stock market

Cheryl Heng

Published: 11:04am, 15 Nov 2021

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Hong Kong stocks gained for the fifth day, as several reports on China’s economy failed to show a meaningful recovery this quarter, strengthening policy easing bets.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 per cent to 25,390.91 at the close of Monday trading, after losing as much as 0.6 per cent in the morning session. It is the index’s longest winning streak since February. The Hang Seng Tech Index added 0.6 per cent while China‘s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 per cent.

AIA Group and WuXi Biologics gained more than 2.3 per cent. Tencent Holdings rose 1.4 per cent while JD.com advanced 1.9 per cent, leading Chinese tech juggernauts higher.

Industrial production rose 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, while retail sales grew 4.9 per cent, the government said on Monday. Both were marginally better than economists predicted. Separately, new home prices dropped 0.25 per cent in October from a month ago, steeper than a 0.08 per cent decline in September.

China’s GDP growth slipped to 4.9 per cent last quarter from 7.9 per cent in the preceding three months. Global fund managers are lately turning less bearish on Chinese stocks, with BlackRock seeing an easing in monetary, fiscal and regulatory policies, adding that a broad tightening over the past few months has slowed economic growth momentum.

Stocks also gained on optimism China-US relations will improve as top leaders make efforts to thaw relations. Investors speculated tensions will ease, according to KGI Securities, as President Xi Jinping holds a virtual summit with President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

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Property stocks were a drag on the market as liquidity concerns dominated sentiment. An index tracking property developers retreated as a fundraising by Sunac China underscores persistent worries about debt defaults. Kaisa Group cancelled a plan to pay an interim dividend.

Sunac announced a plan to raise US$653 million from a stock placement while chairman Sun Hongbin offered to lend US$450 million to the group. Sunac plunged 11.5 per cent. Country Garden declined 4.8 per cent and China Resources Land lost 1.2 per cent.

On the mainland, the Beijing Stock Exchange opened for business on Monday, a new bourse that focuses on small and medium enterprises. About three quarters of 81 companies made a winning debut before the rally faded at the close of trading.

Two firms started trading for the first time in mainland China. Shanghai Aohua Photoelectricity Endoscope, a medical devices manufacturer, jumped 71 per cent. Nanjing Vazyme Biotech Co, which develops and distributes biotechnology products, rose 55 per cent.

Elsewhere, Asian markets closed broadly higher. South Korea’s benchmark index advanced 1 per cent while Japanese equities rose 0.6 per cent and Australian stocks advanced 0.4 per cent.

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