Hong Kong protests, weak US factory data weigh on city’s stock market
- Hang Seng Index closes 0.2 per cent lower at 26,042.7
- Budweiser Brewing rises by 5.3 per cent on second day of trading
The Hong Kong protests as well as disappointing US manufacturing data weighed on the city’s stock market, which was closed on Tuesday for the National Day holiday.
The mainland Chinese markets are shut for the “golden week” holiday and will resume trading on October 8.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.2 per cent lower at 26,042.7 on Wednesday. Sectors such as retail, financial services and utilities were among the worst performers. Chow Tai Fook, the world’s largest jewellery retailer, hit HK$6.27, a one-month low, at one point before closing at HK$6.4, a decline of 1.1 per cent for the day.
Other heavyweights that weighed on the index included Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings, Hong Kong utility CLP Holdings and city trains operator MTR.
Shares of mainland Chinese banks listed in Hong Kong also trended downwards. Bank of China (Hong Kong) lost 1.1 per cent to close at HK$26.3, for instance. The other two Hong Kong currency-issuing lenders, Standard Chartered and HSBC, also fell, by 3.9 per cent to HK$63.6 and 1.2 per cent to HK$59.7, respectively. HSBC’s US unit was fined by American authorities for inaccuracies in reporting on Monday.
Later in the evening, Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department announced retail sales in August had declined by 23 per cent a year ago to HK$29.4 billion (US$3.75 billion). August was also the seventh consecutive month of declines in retail sales.
