Hong Kong stocks rose to a one-week high as Chinese property developers rallied after Shenzhen lowered the down payments for second-home purchases, the latest effort by policymakers to stem the downturn in the home market.
The Hang Seng Index climbed 1 per cent to a one-week high of 17,910.84 at the close. The Tech Index gained 2.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 per cent.
Longfor Group paced the gains among Chinese developers, surging 13 per cent to HK$15.60. China Overseas Land and Investment jumped 4.4 per cent to HK$15.58, and China Resources Land advanced 3 per cent to HK$31.15. Alibaba Group added 0.5 per cent to HK$77.25 after denying rumours about a massive lay-off plan.
Jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook gained 2 per cent to HK$12.04 before its interim report later Thursday that may show a 32 per cent jump in earnings. Chinese search engine operator Baidu surged 6.8 per cent to HK$20.10 after Nomura Holdings upgraded the rating to buy from neutral, citing the company’s better-than-expected quarterly result.
Shenzhen, China’s technology hub where Tencent and Huawei Technologies are headquartered, has lowered the down payment ratio for a second home to 40 per cent from as much as 80 per cent starting Thursday, according to a government notice. It is the second first-tier city to do so after Guangzhou made a similar announcement in September.
“There’s more wiggle room for supportive polices to boost the economy and property market,” said Zhu Bin, an analyst at Huafu Securities. “The market seems to be ticking up from the bottom, with the economic recovery getting under way and increased policy support.”
Local stocks earlier retreated after US government bonds slipped overnight and yields increased. A report showed Americans expect consumer prices to increase 4.5 per cent over the next year, up from 4.4 per cent earlier in the month, eroding optimism about an end to the Federal Reserve rate-hiking cycle.
The Hang Seng Index has risen almost 5 per cent this month, heading for its first monthly gain since July as the US and China moved to ease geopolitical tensions and the Chinese yuan rebounded to a four-month high.
Traders are waiting for more earnings reports due next week, including Chinese on-demand delivery firm Meituan and drug maker CSPC Pharmaceutical Group. So far, 31 Hang Seng Index members have released their third-quarter results, averaging 6.5 per cent year-on-year earnings growth, according to Bloomberg data. That compares with 7.7 per cent growth in first-half earnings. The earnings reports trailed analysts’ projections by 7.2 per cent, the data shows.
Elsewhere, New World Development tumbled 4.4 per cent to HK$13.32. The Hong Kong developer
offered to buy back as much as US$600 million of its dollar-denominated bonds by public tender.
Zhejiang Kunbo Precision Technology, a machinery equipment maker, jumped 244 per cent to 67.10 yuan on the first day of trading in Beijing.
Other major Asian markets were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6 per cent. Japan’s financial market is closed for a public holiday.
FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS
Read original article here
Denial of responsibility! Chronicles Live is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email –
chronicleslive.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
