Stocks Blog: Hong Kong's surprise GDP slowdown weighs on market indexes
- Hong Kong's first-quarter economy grew at 0.5 per cent from last year, the slowest quarterly pace since the third quarter of 2009
- The market is expecting March retail sales and volume data, another indicator of the city economy's health. HSBC, one of the city's three currency printers and the second-biggest component on the Hang Seng Index, is due to report earnings today
Hong Kong is heading into the last trading day of a short four-day trading week, while markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen remain closed for the Labour Day holiday.
Stocks are likely to be weighed down by the latest gloomy reading of the city’s economy. Hong Kong’s first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a dismal 0.5 per cent from last year, expanding at the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2009.
The government blamed a weaker global economy and external headwinds – such as the US-China trade war – for the sluggish growth. The city is also expecting to announce retail sales and volume for March at 4:30pm local time, another indicator of the health of Hong Kong's economy.
The market is also bracing for a flurry of China economic data next week, from April Caixin services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Monday to the monthly import and export data on Wednesday, and April money supply on Friday. HSBC *5 HK), Europe's largest bank and one of Hong Kong's three currency note printers, is scheduled to report earnings today. The bank is the second-biggest component on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
Stay with us to check out the latest action in Hong Kong’s market throughout the day.
-- Yujing Liu and Eugene Tang in Hong Kong