Hong Kong stocks hit month high after China gives concession in audit dispute

Country Garden Services Holdings

04/04/2022 09:40

HONG KONG, April 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks reached a
one-month high on Monday, led by Hong Kong-U.S. dual listed
companies, after a weekend statement from China's securities
watchdog allayed investors fears' that such firms would be
forced to delist from the United States.
    ** The Hang Seng Index  .HSI  closed 2.1% higher at
22,502.31 points, its highest close since March 1. The Hong Kong
China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  gained 3.1% to 7,770.98.
    ** Mainland Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. Both
Hong Kong and mainland markets will also be closed on Tuesday. 
    ** The China Securities Regulatory Commission, on Saturday,
proposed revising confidentiality rules involving offshore
listings, removing a legal hurdle to Sino-U.S. cooperation on
audit oversight. Instead, the onus for protecting state secrets
will be put on Chinese companies.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2W0082
    ** Baidu  9888.HK  finished the day 7.77% higher, Yum China
 9987.HK  gained 5.33% and Weibo  9898.HK  added 3.4%. All three
had been named by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission https://www.sec.gov/hfcaa
 as possibly facing delisting from the United States under rules
requiring the U.S. accounting regulator to have access to audit
working papers of U.S. listed companies.
    ** "Investors' concerns about the delisting of Chinese dual
listing stocks in the United States have been reduced, which is
the most important factor for the performance of the stock
market today," said Kenny Ng, securities strategist at China
Everbright Securities International. 
    ** The Hang Seng Tech Index  .HSTECH  jumped 5.43%. 
    ** "Mainland property stocks continued to perform well also,
which is related to the recent measures introduced by some local
governments in the mainland. How effective these measures are
depend on whether sales figures will pick up significantly in
future," Ng added. 
   ** The Hang Seng Mainland Property Index  .HSMPI  rose 6.38%,
with developer Country Garden  2007.HK , up 8.36%, at the fore.
The Hang Seng Property index  .HSNP  gained 3.05%. 
    ** Country Garden's property management unit, Country Garden
Services Holdings Co Ltd  6098.HK , which rose 16.16%, was the
top gainer on the Hang Seng while the biggest loser was
Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Ltd  1876.HK , down 3.31%.
    ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 0.75%, the IT sector  .HSCIIT  rose 4.37%, and the
financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.76% higher. 
    ** Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam on Monday announced that
she would not run for a second term in this year's chief
executive election, but Ng said this was not a major factor for
markets.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2W2019     

 (Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Uttaresh.V and Jacqueline
Wong)
 ((Jason.Xue@thomsonreuters.com))