Hong Kong stocks surrender gains as China lockdowns squeeze corporate earnings, rate hike hurts developers
- Alibaba eked out a 0.2 per cent gain, surrendering nearly all of its earlier 4.7 per cent spurt in early trading
- JD.com advanced after proposing a US$2 billion special dividend to holders of ordinary shares and American depositary units
The Hang Seng Index retreated 0.4 per cent to 20,793.40 at the close of Thursday trading, reversing an earlier rise of almost 1 per cent. The Tech Index was little changed, losing almost all of its 2 per cent gain. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 per cent as the mainland financial markets reopened after a three-day holiday.
Tencent slipped 0.5 per cent to HK$366.40 while WuXi Biologics slumped 5.4 per cent to HK$54.20. Sunny Optical dropped 3.3 per cent to HK$109.20 and HSBC lost 0.6 per cent to HK$50.45. Alibaba Group ended with a 0.2 per cent gain at HK$96.70, after surging as much as 4.7 per cent.
Elsewhere, JD.com rose 0.8 per cent to HK$241.60 after the e-commerce and logistics group proposed a US$2 billion special dividend payout to shareholders. That translates into 63 US cents for each ordinary share and US$1.26 for each of its depositary shares.
“Given the Covid-related downward pressure on the economy, we expect more policy easing to support growth,” UBS Securities said in a report. Even so, China is not likely to do “whatever it takes” to achieve its ambitious growth target this year, it added.