Gloomy US Data Hit Japanese & HK Shares
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.43% to end at 20,981.82 while Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.7% lower at 2,642.31 on Friday. Wall Street’s losses and worries over China’s plan to keep the red-hot property market in check were the catalysts of the fall. HSBC’s fall of 1.6% also weighed on the index as it contributed 52.37 points to the overall index decline. Another heavyweight constituent, China Mobile, rose to end at HK$82.80 or 1.3% as bargain-hunters bought shares following its 3% decline recently.
As mentioned previously on another post, US economic outlook grew dimmer as Thursday’s jobless claims data hit 500k. Moreover, the Philly Fed Index which measures manufacturing activity had fallen to negative territory. Although it has not indicated a recession, leading economic indicator released on Thursday also suggests that the economy has slowed.
Local factor came from the mainland as China’s Ministry of Land and Resources vowed to step up its efforts to cool down the red-hot local property market. The news sent property shares to the red zone.
PetroChina was reportedly announcing its cancellation of the purchase of an exploration and production firm from China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). PetroChina closed at HK$8.68 or down 0.57%.
HSBC Holdings Plc got its outlook raised by S&P Ratings Services on Friday to STABLE from NEGATIVE with AA-/A-1+ ratings. S&P saw HSBC’s credit losses to have likely peaked last year while internal capital generation will likely to continue in the future. The group’s business and geo diversity should contribute to strong earnings and to keep growth conservative.
From the banking sector, Bank of China Ltd. has been approved to add 60 billion yuan in a share placement at the extraordinary shareholder meeting. About 19.6 billion renminbi-denominated A shares for 42 billion yuan and a maximum of 8.4 billion HK$-denominated H shares for 18 billion yuan. The bank is now to seek approval from China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to complete the placement by the end of this year. The bank’s capital base will be boosted by the proceeds from this placement. Bank of China ended 0.25% lower at $4.03 on Friday.
Airliner Cathay Pacific is to resume collecting passenger fuel surcharges for September but at 5% less as international fuel prices fall. Short-haul surcharges will be at HK$97 per journey while the long-haul will be HK$481.
China Resources, China Mobile and Cathay Pacific were the top gainers as each gained 1.28%, 1.16%, and 1.14%, respectively. Slumping at the bottom were New World Development, HSBC Holdings, and China Merchants Holdings with losses of 1.93%, 1.65%, and 1.3%, respectively.
Week Ahead
A flood of earnings reports will feature next week’s local events. Hong Kong and China Gas Co. Ltd. will release its interim results on Tuesday (24/8) along with COSCO Pacific and Ping An Insurance. On Wednesday, PetroChina, China Telecom and China Life’s results will due. Henderson Land, China Resources, ICBC, BOC Ltd. and BOC HK will deliver their results the next day. China Shenhua will close the reports-packed week.
International events will be the housing data from the US and the release of the GDP estimate for 2Q, which has been anticipated to be revised lower after the widening of US trade deficits recently.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.43% to end at 20,981.82 while Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.7% lower at 2,642.31 on Friday. Wall Street’s losses and worries over China’s plan to keep the red-hot property market in check were the catalysts of the fall. HSBC’s fall of 1.6% also weighed on the index as it contributed 52.37 points to the overall index decline. Another heavyweight constituent, China Mobile, rose to end at HK$82.80 or 1.3% as bargain-hunters bought shares following its 3% decline recently.
In Japan, Nikkei 225 Average ended at 9,179.38 or slipping 183.30 points by the end of Friday’s session. Wall Street factor was a factor behind the fall, with an addition of stubbornly strong yen fueling the decline. Government’s inaction regarding yen’s strength has disappointed exporters like Sony (-2.46%), Nikon (-2.48%), and auto stocks like Nissan (-2.37%), Toyota (-1.78%) and Honda (-1.57%). Only Tokyo Electron stayed unchanged at 4,370 yen. Bottom three were Advantest (-3.2%), Kyocera (-3.08%), and Mitsubishi Estate (-2.57%).
As mentioned previously on another post, US economic outlook grew dimmer as Thursday’s jobless claims data hit 500k. Moreover, the Philly Fed Index which measures manufacturing activity had fallen to negative territory. Although it has not indicated a recession, leading economic indicator released on Thursday also suggests that the economy has slowed.
Local factor came from the mainland as China’s Ministry of Land and Resources vowed to step up its efforts to cool down the red-hot local property market. The news sent property shares to the red zone.
PetroChina was reportedly announcing its cancellation of the purchase of an exploration and production firm from China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). PetroChina closed at HK$8.68 or down 0.57%.
HSBC Holdings Plc got its outlook raised by S&P Ratings Services on Friday to STABLE from NEGATIVE with AA-/A-1+ ratings. S&P saw HSBC’s credit losses to have likely peaked last year while internal capital generation will likely to continue in the future. The group’s business and geo diversity should contribute to strong earnings and to keep growth conservative.
From the banking sector, Bank of China Ltd. has been approved to add 60 billion yuan in a share placement at the extraordinary shareholder meeting. About 19.6 billion renminbi-denominated A shares for 42 billion yuan and a maximum of 8.4 billion HK$-denominated H shares for 18 billion yuan. The bank is now to seek approval from China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to complete the placement by the end of this year. The bank’s capital base will be boosted by the proceeds from this placement. Bank of China ended 0.25% lower at $4.03 on Friday.
Airliner Cathay Pacific is to resume collecting passenger fuel surcharges for September but at 5% less as international fuel prices fall. Short-haul surcharges will be at HK$97 per journey while the long-haul will be HK$481.
China Resources, China Mobile and Cathay Pacific were the top gainers as each gained 1.28%, 1.16%, and 1.14%, respectively. Slumping at the bottom were New World Development, HSBC Holdings, and China Merchants Holdings with losses of 1.93%, 1.65%, and 1.3%, respectively.
Week Ahead
A flood of earnings reports will feature next week’s local events. Hong Kong and China Gas Co. Ltd. will release its interim results on Tuesday (24/8) along with COSCO Pacific and Ping An Insurance. On Wednesday, PetroChina, China Telecom and China Life’s results will due. Henderson Land, China Resources, ICBC, BOC Ltd. and BOC HK will deliver their results the next day. China Shenhua will close the reports-packed week.
International events will be the housing data from the US and the release of the GDP estimate for 2Q, which has been anticipated to be revised lower after the widening of US trade deficits recently.
