Hong Kong stocks edge up amid regulatory jitters following Tencent action
- The Hang Seng Index rises 0.2 per cent, trades near seven-week low
- Haidilao and Alibaba, stocks with the biggest losses this year, lead the benchmark higher
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.2 per cent to 24,740.16 for the day, reversing an intraday loss of as much as 0.6 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index rebounded 1.1 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2 per cent.
Stocks with the biggest losses this year led the benchmark higher on Thursday, with Haidilao International Holding and Alibaba Group Holding rising at least 2.7 per cent. The two stocks have lost more than 40 per cent so far in 2021. New World Development was the worst performer, with a decline of 5.6 per cent.
“Hong Kong stocks are still facing a couple of issues that have remained as an overhang, such as the antitrust law, uncertain policies, the debt woes of Chinese developers and the power outage,” Central China Securities said in a report on Thursday.
Local stocks have also been weighed down by expectations of a faster unwinding of stimulus by the US Federal Reserve, a move that will strengthen the dollar and spur outflows from other economies. Minutes released from the November Fed meeting highlighted the risk of inflation and signalled a quicker withdrawal of bond purchases. The US dollar index traded close to its highest level in 16 months.
Tencent added 1.2 per cent and Meituan gained 0.3 per cent before its earnings are released on Friday.
Other major stock gauges in Asia were generally strong, except that in South Korea, which bucked the gains trend.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.