The Hang Seng Index declined less than 0.1 per cent to 17,109.14 at the close after losing as much as 1.1 per cent, and gaining as much as 0.4 per cent, earlier in the session. The Tech Index declined 0.3 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index rallied 0.9 per cent to claw out from a sixth-month low.
Tencent lost 1.4 per cent to HK$368.40. E-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding weakened 2.4 per cent to HK$76.40, and peer JD.com lost 1.4 per cent to HK$99.35 ahead of earnings cards due later today.
Fresh housing data released on Thursday showed the property downturn has not yet turned the corner. New home prices declined 0.7 per cent in July, the 14th month of decline, although the rate of the drop slowed compared with the previous month.
Retail sales rebounded slightly to register 2.7 per cent growth last month, following a sharp decline to 2 per cent in June from 3.7 per cent in May. Industrial production grew 5.1 per cent during the same period, compared with the 5.3 per cent growth in June.
“We do not see concrete signs of economic recovery yet,” said Jason Chan, senior investment strategist at Bank of East Asia. The Hong Kong market is likely to stay volatile and stuck in a narrow trading range in the short term as investors lack conviction, he added.
Still, the retail sales figures and property market data are pointing to growing domestic demand, according to Patrick Pan, a strategist at Daiwa Capital Markets in Hong Kong.
“We see no need to worry too much about a broad-based economic slowdown,” he said. The still weak fundamentals are prompting traders to bolster bets on more stimulus from Beijing, while US inflation data helped lift sentiment in anticipation of the Fed’s potential easing next month, he added.
Other Asian markets were mostly higher after the US inflation data. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.2 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added and South Korea’s Kospi Index both added 0.9 per cent.