Hong Kong stocks complete four-week rally on China easing bets while Evergrande tempers bond default risks
- Stock benchmark rose for a fourth week on optimism about China easing measures to support housing market amid an industry slump
- Evergrande default concerns eased as developer was reported to have paid interest to offshore bondholders before Saturday’s deadline
The Hang Seng Index rose 3.1 per cent this week to 26,126.93, the most since the opening week of February to complete a four-week rally. The Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 6.9 per cent, the most in eight weeks. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.3 per cent weaker at 3,582.60.
“The concerns on the property industry seems to have eased with speculative capital flowing back into them,” said Alvin Cheung, associate director at Prudential Brokerage in Hong Kong. Investors should remain vigilant because China still keeps a tight control on the sector, he added.
Traders were seen loading up property stocks earlier this week after a mainland media report said two state-owned lenders were speeding up loans for developers and mortgages for homebuyers.
China Evergrande rose 4.3 per cent while its Evergrande Property Services Group gained 1.7 per cent. They advanced despite a dispute with Hopson Development over the botched US$2.6 billion asset deal between the two groups over payment differences.
Energy stocks fell as oil prices retreated. The National Development and Reform Commission on Friday said it was studying specific measures to stop coal producers from making huge profit and to stabilise prices at a reasonable range for the long term. PetroChina lost 3.7 per cent in Hong Kong and Jizhong Energy slumped 8.7 per cent in Shanghai.
Sinocat Environmental Technology declined 6.1 per cent to 66.58 yuan on its first day of trading in Shanghai.