Hong Kong stocks post weekly drop as protests rattle sentiment

Guangdong Investment

20/09/2019 09:36

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 16.9%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 1.5%
    * HSI -0.1%, HSCE -0.1%, CSI300 +0.3%
    * FTSE China A50 +0.3% 

    Sept 20 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks closed the week lower
amid lingering worries that anti-government protests could add
pressure on the city island's economy amid a bruising Sino-U.S.
trade spat. 
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  ended down 0.1% at 26,435.67
on Friday, while the China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  also lost
0.1% to 10,375.65.   
    ** HSI shed 3.4% for the week, while HSCE lost 2.9%. 
    ** Hong Kong's central bank lowered interest rates on
Thursday in step with a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve,
just as months of anti-government protests and fallout from
U.S.-China trade tensions start to take a toll on the economy.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26A09H 
    ** The rate cut comes after more than 100 days of
anti-government protests in the city, with violence escalating
over the summer.    
    ** Last weekend, police fired water cannon and volleys of
tear gas to disperse protesters, many of them masked and wearing
black, who threw petrol bombs and set fires in Causeway Bay and
the nearby Central district. In a direct challenge to Beijing,
some protesters threw bricks at police outside the Chinese
People's Liberation Army base and set fire to a red banner
proclaiming the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's
Republic of China.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2691Y1
    ** Beijing on Friday cut its new one-year benchmark lending
rate for the second month in a row, a step by the central bank
to wrestle down borrowing costs and support the economy as the
Sino-U.S. trade war drags.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26B0H6 
    ** However, cautious easing seemed to offer little support
for mainland companies listed in Hong Kong on Friday.  
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.57%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed up 0.16%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.09 per U.S. dollar at
0814 GMT, 0.1% firmer than the previous close of 7.097. 
    ** The top gainers among H-shares were China Communications
Construction Co Ltd  1800.HK , which ended up 6.35%, followed by
China Railway Group Ltd  0390.HK , gaining 3.97% and CRRC Corp
Ltd  1766.HK , up by 3.01%.
    ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were
Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd  2313.HK , which ended
down 2.96%, Guangdong Investment Ltd  0270.HK , which closed
2.11% lower and China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd  2601.HK ,
down by 1.91%.
    ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
29.93% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.  

 (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))