Hong Kong stocks log best month since October on China outlook while Tencent, SenseTime tumble as insiders sell

Gains in the Hang Seng and CSI 300 indexes this month have added almost US$699 billion of market value

Tencent and SenseTime slipped in Thursday trading amid concerns about selling by corporate insiders

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A man walks past an electronic display showing the Hang Seng Index in the Central district of Hong Kong on May 27. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:58am, 30 Jun 2022Updated: 5:00pm, 30 Jun 2022

Hong Kong stocks weakened, trimming the best monthly gain since October, as Tencent Holdings came under selling pressure from corporate insiders. SenseTime crashed after a stock lock-up expired. Signs of recovery in Chinese manufacturing tempered losses.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.6 per cent to 21,859.79 at the close of trading, while the Tech Index lost 1.4 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index strengthened 1.1 per cent. Financial markets in Hong Kong will be closed on Friday for a holiday.

Tencent, the operator of WeChat, slumped 2.9 per cent to HK$354.40, taking this week’s setback to almost 8 per cent per cent. Its major shareholder Prosus announced a plan to sell down its 28.8 per cent stake in the open market to fund a stock buy-back programme.

Other major losers on Thursday included Alibaba Group Holding which retreated 2.3 per cent to HK$111.90 while both Meituan and Lenovo Group lost more than 4 per cent.

The Hang Seng Index still logged a 2.1 per cent advance in June while the CSI 300 Index of mainland stocks advanced 9.3 per cent. Gains in both indexes since May 31 have added almost US$699 billion of market value as confidence in China’s economic outlook rebounded.

China’s PMI manufacturing index rose to 50.2 in June, the statistics bureau said, reversing contraction in the three preceding months. The non-manufacturing gauge climbed to 54.7, marking the first expansion since February.