HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks barely changed on Wednesday, as renewed worries over North Korea and surging US bond yields dampened sentiment in Asian markets. Investors were awaiting news from a second round of US-China trade talks in Washington this week.
The Hang Seng index ended 0.1 percent down at 31,110.20, while the China Enterprises Index was unchanged at 12,440.12 points.
Pyongyang abruptly called off talks with Seoul, throwing a US-North Korean summit into doubt. The cancellation could see tension on the Korean peninsula flare again even as investors worry about China-US trade tensions and the sustainability of global economic growth.
Meanwhile, strong US retail sales and factory data on Tuesday pushed the US 10-year yield through a key level to hit 3.095 percent, its highest since July 2011, raising worries about higher borrowing costs for companies worldwide.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.3 percent, while the IT sector dipped 0.23 percent, the financial sector was 0.12 percent lower and property sector dipped 0.39 percent.
The top gainer on Hang Seng was AAC Technologies Holdings Inc up 2.45 percent, while the biggest loser was Wharf Real Estate Investment Company Ltd, which ended 3.40 percent down.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.01 percent while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 0.44 percent . The yuan was quoted at 6.3686 per US dollar at 08:30 GMT, 0.06 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.3725.
As of the previous trading session, the Hang Seng index was up 4.12 percent this year, while China’s H-share index was up 6.2 percent.
As of previous close, the Hang Seng climbed 1.12 percent this month.
The top gainers among H-shares were Air China Ltd up 2.76 percent, followed by Hengan International Group Company Ltd gaining 2.04 percent and China Gas Holdings Ltd up by 2.02 percent.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were GF Securities Co Ltd which was down 1.70 percent, Byd Co Ltd which fell 1.4 percent and New China Life Insurance Co Ltd down by 1.2 percent.
About 1.39 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 82.5 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 1.68 billion shares a day.
The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.62 billion.
At close, China’s A-shares were trading at a premium of 19.77 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Hang Seng index was 12.47 as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was 3.1 percent.
Source: Brecorder
