Hong Kong stocks rise as bargain hunters swoop in to take advantage of rout; Kweichow Moutai stabilises
- Kweichow Moutai climbs after 7.9 per cent collapse on Thursday
- SMIC rose 0.9 per cent after sinking 25 per cent a day earlier
Hong Kong and mainland stocks stabilised after Thursday’s routs, but trading was cautious on worries China’s policymakers may continue to tap the liquidity brakes amid signs of economic recovery and overheated markets.
While Friday’s gains were modest – or in China’s case, slim – the trading day at least was not a repeat of Thursday’s panic selling and gave a much-needed confidence boost in Hong Kong and mainland markets, where investors have been rattled as well by rising US-China tensions and rising infections in the US, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Still, the main benchmarks in Hong Kong and Shanghai posted weekly losses.
The Hang Seng Index finished ahead Friday by 0.5 per cent to 25,089.17. The benchmark tumbled 2 per cent – about 511 points – on Thursday, dragging it below the 25,000 resistance level for the first time this month.
Noteworthy stock moves were index heavyweight Tencent, which gained 1.6 per cent to HK$521, and Alibaba, the e-commerce giant and owner of the South China Morning Post, which advanced 2.4 per cent to HK$238.80. Tencent fell 5.5 per cent on Thursday, while Alibaba slid 4.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Chinese chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) closed up 0.9 per cent, after rising as much as 7 per cent. It plummeted by a record 25 per cent on Thursday, even as its A shares tripled on their mainland debut, but Friday’s gains still left the Hong Kong shares up more than 140 per cent this year.
