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Enoch Yiu

Welcome to the SCMP's live markets blog. The intense volatility of recent weeks has every chance of remaining the core underlying theme of activity. Investors are increasingly focused the broader question of how this episode might affect the wider economy as many suspect the equity bubble has yet to fully deflate. We'll bring you the key levels, trading statements, price action and other developments as they happen.
 
4:12pm: The Hang Seng Index (orange) and H-shares index (purple) price performance across the day. Percentage movements are against today's opening. Click to enlarge.

4:10pm: The Hang Seng index closed up 0.44 per cent at 24,514,16 after trading in a tight range in final hour. The H share finished 0.46 per cent higher at 11,125.84. Total market turnover was HK$ 69.1 billion. 
3:28pm: Today’s price performance of the Shanghai Composite (orange), Shenzhen Composite (purple), CSI300 (green) and ChiNext (blue) indices. Percentage is against opening. Click to enlarge.

3:18pm: The Shanghai Composite index closed down 1.65 per cent to 3,694.57 with volatile trading in the final 90 minutes as the index rose and then fell 65 points. The CSI 300 also saw off a late rally and closed down 2.06 per cent at 3,866.9. 
3:18pm: The Shenzhen Composite index gave up its morning gains and dropped 1.05 per cent to finish at 2,128.42. The ChiNext index fell 1.73 per cent to 2,502.04. 
3:18pm: The Hang Seng index rose 0.35 per cent to 24,491.79. The H share index is up 0.44 per cent to 11,136.32. 
3:09pm: Red chip consumables are making solid gains in Hong Kong this afternoon, after JP Morgan said it expected staples in particular to improve their sales and profit figures. 
China Foods is up 3.91 per cent and Fu Ji Catering 2.5 per cent. Dairy company Yashili International has jumped 5.26 per cent, while China Mengniu Dairy is sustaining a 4.04 per cent improvement today. Instant noodle maker Tingyi has added 3.19 per cent to be the Hang Seng’s second-top gainer after Mengniu.
2:32pm: Steel, cement and glass H-shares are in demand after China won hosting rights for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Angang Steel gains 4.85 per cent; Anhui Conch Cement lifts 4.48 per cent while its sector counterpart BBMG leaps 8.07 per cent; Luoyang Glass improves 3.41 per cent and China National Building Material Co (CNBM) gains 5.71 per cent.
2:11pm: Pay TV and internet operator i-Cable Communications has announced a first half loss of HK$121 million, widening from a loss of HK$23 million a year earlier. Turnover fell by 10 per cent for the half while operating costs and programming costs increased. 
The company blames competition in all its business lines, with television bleeding subscription and advertising revenue and broadband losing out to faster competitors, also citing the need to invest in products and programming to attract and retain customers. 
i-Cable shares have dropped 3.1 per cent to 62 HK cents on the news. This one-month view against the Hang Seng Index (blue) shows i-Cable (orange) dipping today as competitors Hong Kong Television (green) and PCCW (purple) do better – click to enlarge.

2:07pm: The Shanghai Composite Index slid to 3,713.02, down 1.16 per cent or 43.53 points. The CSI300 Index declines by 1.41  per cent or 55.58  points to 3,892.58. 
2:07pm: The Shenzhen Composite falls to 2,134.77, down 0.75 per cent or 16.18 points. The ChiNext Index drops by 1.26 per cent or 32.05  points to 2514.11.
2:07pm: The Hang Seng Index stood at 24,467.04, up by 0.25 per cent or 60.92 points. The H-share Index improves 0.57 per cent or 63.52 points to 11,138.44 . 
2:01pm: Young Chinese investors between 18 to 39 are more aggressive in their investment risk tolerance, with 58 per cent identifying themselves as somewhat or very aggressive, compared to 49 per cent of older Chinese investors aged 40 to 75, a global investor survey by Legg Mason Global Asset Management says. 
Younger Chinese investors consider equity income funds (60 per cent) and high yield bonds (60 per cent) per cent as the top two asset classes to meet their income needs.
A higher percentage of younger Chinese investors believe that they have achieved progress over the past 12 months in different aspects of investment, including avoiding dependence on others in retirement (100 per cent) and protecting personal wealth (91 per cent).  
Looking ahead to the next 12 months, almost all younger Chinese investors (96 per cent) are somewhat/very optimistic about their investments in comparison with older counterparts (87 per cent).
“With the rise of the affluent class in China, we are seeing substantial growth in Chinese investors’ confidence in managing investments as well as an increasing need for income across the age segments. Our survey shows that the younger generation of investors are more confident in their investment abilities and are more aggressive, “said Freeman Tsang, director of business development and head of China and Hong Kong of Legg Mason.
1:45pm: The share price of Hong Kong developer Hysan Development (orange line) shot up 0.1 per cent to HK$33.45 shortly after the market’s afternoon session started, responding to the company’s interim result announcement. It underperformed the Hang Seng Index (purple line) in the morning.
For more on the story on Hysan, click here.
For the chart below, click to enlarge.

1:10pm: The Shanghai Composite Index opened the afternoon session at 3,717.56, down 1.04 per cent or 38.99 points. The CSI300 Index slid to 3,897.26, down 1.29 per cent or 50.90 points. 
1:10pm: The Shenzhen Composite opened at 2,126.74, down 1.13 per cent or 24.22 points. The ChiNext Index falls by 1.8 per cent or 45.74 points down to 2,500.43. 
1:10pm: The Hang Seng Index opened at 24,464.06, edging up by 0.24 per cent or 57.94 points. The H-share Index has picked up 0.64 per cent or 70.87 points to 11,145.79. 
12:44pm: Share price movement of the top five most traded stocks on Wednesday morning session at the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Ping An (yellow) up 0.34 per cent to HK$44.3, ICBC (purple) rose 1.14 per cent to HK$5.34, Tencent (green) lost 0.91 per cent to HK$141.7. Bank of China (blue) slips 0.91 per cent to HK$4.21 and AIA (orange) added 1.21 per cent to HK$50.
Chart shows the trading from 9:30am to noon, while the percentage shown in the chart represents change from the opening, not from the previous close. Please click to enlarge.

12:41pm: Hong Kong developer Hysan Development said its interim net profit for the first half was down 20 per cent to HK$2.29 billion, which the company said “reflecting a smaller fair value gain on investment properties valuation recorded in this period.”
The company’s turnover, however, was up 7.4 per cent to HK$1.71 billion. Hysan announced in its stock exchange filing at noon when the market closed for the midday break.
12:35pm: Share price movement of the Hang Seng Index (orange) and H-shares index (purple) in the morning session today from 9:30 am to 12 noon. The line starts with the opening price and the percentage shown is in comparison with the opening and not the previous days' close. Please click to enlarge.
 
12:34pm: The Hang Seng stands at 24,472.48 by the noon break, up 0.27 per cent or 66.36 points. The H-share index went to 11,162.05, up 0.79 per cent or 87.13 points.
11:50am: Daily price performance of the Shanghai Composite (orange), Shenzhen Composite (purple), CSI300 (green) and ChiNext (blue) indices up to the midday break – click to enlarge. 

11:38am: The Shanghai Composite Index closed the morning at 3,708.66, down 47.89 points or 1.27 per cent. The CSI300 drifted to 3,889.04, down 59.12 points or 1.5 per cent. 
11:38am: The Shenzhen Composite Index closed at 2,131.29, down 19.66 points or 0.91 per cent. The ChiNext went to 2,507.58, down 38.58 points or 1.52 per cent.
11:34am: The Hang Seng Index moves to 24,449.15, up 0.18 per cent or 43.31 points. The H-share index stands at 11,127.72, up 0.48 per cent or 52.8 points.
11:31am: On the IMF decision regarding the Chinese yuan's inclusion in its SDR basket:
“The concept of a freely usable currency concerns the actual international use and trading of currencies, and it is distinct from whether a currency is either freely floating or fully convertible,” wrote UBS’s Wang Tao. 
“We still think it is highly likely that RMB will be included – though for technical reasons, the actual date of inclusion may be extended to September 30 2016, to give reserve managers time to adjust. In fact, the IMF article implies a large likelihood of SDR inclusion – otherwise the technical preparation would not be necessary,” wrote UBS’s Wang.
 11:29am: Onshore spot yuan is trading at 6.2087 against the US dollar, weaker by 1 basis point from Tuesday's close. The offshore yuan stands at 6.2199, weaker by 26 basis points from its Tuesday finish.
11:15am: Hong Kong dollar is trading Wednesday at 7.7539 to the US dollar, near upper end of the currency peg. Euro/dlr weaker by 0.17 per cent at 1.0862. Dlr/yen at 124.41, stronger by 0.02 per cent. Pound/dlr weaker by 0.16 per cent to 1.5539. Australian dollar to US dollar weaker by 0.20 per cent to 0.7365. 
10:58am: Shares of MIE Holdings, which produces oil in northern China, Kazakhstan and the United States, rose 7.8 per cent to a one-month high HK$1.24 at 10:45 am after it announced that it has agreed to acquire a 43.9 per cent stake in Toronto-listed Long Run Exploration, which produces oil in Alberta province in western Canada, for C$201.5 million (HK$1.2 billion).
10:42am: HSBC chief china economist Qu Hongbing says the growth in China’s services sector will not be sustainable given a lackluster manufacturing sector, and more policy easing is needed to spur the economy. 
10:42am: The Caixin China services Purchasing Managers Index for July hit an 11-month high at 53.8 from 51.8 a month earlier. A PMI reading above 50 signifies expansion. 
10:38am: The share price of Macau casino operator MGM China (purple) up 5 per cent at 10am to HK$16.56, outperforming the Hang Seng Index (yellow) this morning after reporting its interim results yesterday. MGM’s fellow casino operators Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment also surged by around 4.5 per cent each. Click on chart to enlarge.

 
10:35am: The Hang Seng Index improves to 24,542.15, up 0.56 per cent or 136.03 points. The H-share index reaches 11,185.48, up exactly 1 per cent comprising 110.56 points.
10:34am: The Shanghai Composite Index stands at 3,759.03 points, up 2.48 points or 0.07 per cent. The CSI300 is at 3,940.14, down 8.02 points or 0.2 per cent. 
10:34am: The Shenzhen Composite Index is at 2,169.52, up 18.57 points or 0.86 per cent. The ChiNext goes to 2568.93, up 22.77 points or 0.89 per cent.
10:33am: China Mengniu Dairy is rebounding after days of losses, up 4.66 per cent to HK$33.65 to lead the gainers on the Hang Seng. 
Between July 21 and yesterday, Mengniu fell almost 18 per cent to HK$32.15, well below its April 8 historic high of HK$45.20. The stock is rated ‘sell’ by Goldman Sachs with target price of HK$30.
10:12am: Hoifu Energy plunged almost 20 per cent after resuming trading in Hong Kong this morning, recovering to be 3.5 per cent down at HK$1.35. 
Prior to resumption, the company announced it had cancelled the planned acquisition of Madagascar Natural Gas Group Limited for HK$2.83 billion, as the transaction had been deemed a reverse takeover and would be treated as a new listing applicant. 
Instead, Hoifu plans to acquire Oriental Bliss Holdings, which owns 5 per cent equity interest in Madagascar Southern Petroleum, for HK$750 million.
9:51am: China Everbright Bank is said to have lowered its leverage ratio of 1:1 in August, making it harder for investors to bet on stocks with borrowed money, financial magazine Caixin reports citing bank officials. The bank has also set a cap on the maximum amount shareholders could borrow to purchase shares in their listed companies. 
9:32am: The Hang Seng Index opens at 24,466.30, up 0.25 per cent or 60.18 points. The China Enterprises Index (H-share index) opens at 11,091.70, edging up 0.15 per cent or 16.78 points.
9:31am: The Shanghai Composite Index starts the day at 3,745.65 points, down 10.9 points or 0.29 per cent on yesterday’s close. The CSI300 index of Shanghai-Shenzhen large cap stocks opens at 3,937.62, down 10.54 points or 0.27 per cent. 
9:31am: The Shenzhen Composite Index opens at 2,148.78, down 2.17 points or just 0.1 per cent. The NASDAQ-style ChiNext Price Index shaves off 3.89 points or 0.15 per cent to open at 2542.27.
9:17am: The People’s Bank of China set the mid-price of onshore yuan trading at 6.1186, weaker by nine basis points to the US dollar from the Tuesday mid-price fix. 
9:15am: People’s Bank of China says Tuesday it will maintain a reasonable level of liquidity in the currency market and pledges to control financial risks and stablise market expectations, 
9:12am: Boer Power has suspended trading in its shares pending a response to allegations contained in media reports after its stock plummeted yesterday. Read more here.
9:07am: IMF urged to delay decision on adding China's yuan to currency basket. For more on story, click here. 
9:05am: Hope dims for China's yuan to be included in IMF's SDR basket. For more on story, click here.
9:01am: Hang Seng August futures contracts are trading at 24,063, down 201 points or 0.83 per cent.
8:56am: Five Shanghai listed A-share companies applied to resume trading on Wednesday while four companies will suspend trading in their stock. The number of suspended companies in Shanghai is 86, representing 8.03 per cent of the total.
In Shenzhen, a total of nine listed companies say they will resume trading on Wednesday, while seven firms will suspend trading in their shares. Some 315 firms in Shenzhen are in voluntary suspension, accounting for about 18.06 per cent of total listed companies.
8:54am: Hong Kong listed companies projecting profit growth since yesterday’s close are Future Bright (FB) Mining Holdings and Sim Technology Group. 
Profit is expected to decrease for China Vast Industrial Urban Development, Zhuhai Holdings Investment Group, CNT Group, Wang Tai Holdings and Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE). 
Losses are projected by Jicheng (JC) Umbrella Holdings, Jiu Rong Holdings and Pine Technology Holdings.
8:47am: For round on Wall Street, Fed official comments supporting September lift off and impact on the dollar, click here.
8:35am: Haitong International Securities has applied to the Hong Kong stock exchange to list US$3 billion (HK$23 billion) in medium term notes. Meanwhile, a share placement planned by property brokerage Winfull Group Holdings to raise HK$118 million has lapsed.
8:34am: Macau casino operator MGM China released its unaudited first half results after closing yesterday. Casino revenue is down 33 per cent to HK$9.04 billion and earnings per share fell from 79.9 HK cents to 44.7 HK cents. The stock last traded at HK$15.82.
8:12am: British lender Standard Chartered Bank (yellow) will announce its interim result today. Greater China chief executive Benjamin Hung will host a result briefing at 4:30 pm. The lender closed at HK$116.8 on Tuesday, down 1.1 per cent from Monday. Its share price the past three months has outperformed the benchmark Hang Seng index (green). 
Reorient Group (purple), in which Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun bought a 56 per cent stake in May for HK$2.7 billion, will also announce interim results today. It had earlier given a warning it will post a net loss of between HK$30 million to HK$50 million. Its three month performance has underperformed the Hang Seng Index. The company closed at HK$13.4 on Tuesday, up 2.45 per cent on the day. 

8:08am: Hong Kong's Hysan Development (orange) will announce its interim result today. The company closed at HK$33.75 on Tuesday, up 0.9 per cent on the day. Its share price has performed in line with the Hang Seng Index (green) over the past three months. 
Real estate developer Pacific Century Premium Developments (purple), chaired by Richard Li (son of Li Ka-Shing), is also going to announce its interim result today. The company’s share price underperformed the Hang Seng Index over the past three months. It closed at HK$3.97, up 3.9 per cent from Monday.

8:02am: Three out of the five most traded Hong Kong stocks closed higher yesterday, namely Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (Green), AIA (blue), and Ping An Insurance (red).
The other two, Tencent (orange) and ICBC (purple) lost ground. The percentage shown in the chart represents change from the opening, not from the previous close. Please click to enlarge.

7:58am: Hang Seng Index (orange) closed marginally lower Tuesday while the H-shares index, which tracks Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies, ended slightly higher. The percentage shown the chart below is computed from the opening and not the previous day's close. Click chart to enlarge.



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China Markets Live - Shanghai and Shenzhen finish with losses, Hong Kong ekes out gain by the close 

A row of investors keep watch on their stock investments in Shanghai, China. Photo: Reuters

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Shanghai index slides 1.65 per cent and Shenzhen 1.05 per cent weaker by the conclusion of trade, but Hong Kong ends 0.44 per cent up in another mixed session


The intense volatility of recent weeks has every chance of remaining the core underlying theme of activity. Investors are increasingly focused the broader question of how this episode might affect the wider economy as many suspect the equity bubble has yet to fully deflate.


Live | China Markets Live - Shanghai and Shenzhen finish with losses, Hong Kong ekes out gain by the close

Shanghai index slides 1.65 per cent and Shenzhen 1.05 per cent weaker by the conclusion of trade, but Hong Kong ends 0.44 per cent up in another mixed session