Hong Kong stocks edge lower despite Tencent post-earnings rally
Live video platform Tian Ge suspended from trading after short seller’s report
Hong Kong stocks tumbled on Thursday despite a rally in Tencent after the Chinese online giant announced better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday.
The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.24 per cent, or 64.85 points, to 27,344.22 while the H-shares index lost 0.15 per cent, or 16.46 points, to 10,801.42 points. Turnover stood at HK$94.41 billion.
Shares of Tencent advanced 1.92 per cent to HK$329.4, after briefly surging 5.3 per cent to an all-time high of HK$340.4.
The company reported late Wednesday that its net income increased 64 per cent to 32.7 billion yuan (US$4.9 billion) for the first six months of the year, well above consensus estimates.
Revenues gained 57 per cent to 106.2 billion yuan, fuelled by growth in smartphone game and advertising businesses.
The strong gains in Tencent failed to excite the market as much as expected. “People were buying on high-expectations for some companies’ results but the market starts to calm down as the results came out,” said Gordon Tsui, managing director of Hantec Pacific. “But it’s just a short-term adjustment.”