Hong Kong, China shares slump as policy tightening concerns persist

Guangdong Investment

24/03/2021 05:05

* HSI -1.9%, SSEC -1.2%, CSI300 -1.4%
    * Fed's Kaplan says he expects rate hike in 2022
    * Tencent's Ma meets anti-trust officials

    BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 24 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks hit
their lowest in more than 10 weeks on Wednesday, tracking
overnight slump in Wall Street, on concerns of potential rate
hikes and policy tightening globally while elevated Treasury
yields also dampened risk appetite.     
    By the midday break, the Hang Seng Index  .HIS  was down
1.9% at 27,954.52, the lowest since Jan. 12, while Chinese
H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 2.18% to 10,868.77.
    Mainland shares also extended losses, with the Shanghai
Composite index  .SSEC  down 1.22% at 3,369.78 points while the
blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  dropped 1.39%.
    With more people getting vaccinated against the coronavirus
and as the economy continues to improve, Dallas Federal Reserve
President Robert Kaplan said on Tuesday that he is among the
policymakers expecting the central bank to start raising rates
as soon as next year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LL14K
    On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
 .DJI  fell 0.94%, the S&P 500  .SPX  lost 0.76% and the Nasdaq
Composite  .IXIC  dropped 1.12%.
    "Investors in Hong Kong are following the overnight
risk-averse sentiment in Wall Street as Treasury yield continued
hiking," said Zhang Yanbin, an analyst with Zheshang Securities.
"The expectation of Fed to start raising rates in the near
future also weighed."
    Pony Ma, the reticent founder of Tencent Holdings  0700.HK ,
met with the country's anti-trust watchdog officials this month
to discuss compliance at his group, two people with direct
knowledge said, an indication that China's antitrust crackdown
could soon target other internet behemoths.  nL4N2LL27L    
    The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  led the losses by falling 2.5% while the biggest loser
was Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd  0175.HK , which was down
-13.26%. 
    Leading the declines in mainland, the CSI300 transportation
index  .CSI000957  and CSI300 resource index  .CSI000944 
dropped 4.3% and 4.1%, respectively.    
    Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 1.04% while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was down 1.57%.
    The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.5227 per U.S. dollar,
0.1% weaker than the previous close of 6.516.    

 (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((zoey.zhang@thomsonreuters.com))