Hong Kong stocks fall as investors await Brexit vote, trade deal

Hengan International

13/03/2019 08:47

* HSI down 0.4 pct, HSCE 0.5 pct lower
    * Sunny Optical top gainer on Hang Seng
    * Hengan International biggest loser

    March 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks dropped on Wednesday,
as investors turned cautious ahead of yet another make-or-break
parliamentary vote on Brexit while awaiting more news on the
progress of Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.
** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  fell 0.4 percent, to 28,807.45,
while the China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  lost 0.5 percent, to
11,405.82 points.
** Risk appetite had soured after British lawmakers crushed
Prime Minister Theresa May's European Union divorce deal,
forcing parliament to decide within days whether to back a
no-deal Brexit or seek a last-minute delay.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N20Z22T
** Investors were also waiting for developments on the Sino-U.S.
trade talks.    
** The United States and China may be in the final weeks of
discussions to hammer out a deal to ease their tit-for-tat
tariffs dispute, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
said on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N20Z0NP 
 
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  dipped 0.4 percent, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT 
dipped 1.21 percent, the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.2
percent lower and the property sector dipped 0.26 percent.
 
** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Sunny Optical Technology
Group Co Ltd  2382.HK , which gained 1.89 percent, while the
biggest loser was Hengan International Group Company Ltd
 1044.HK , which fell 4.53 percent.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.29 percent, while Japan's Nikkei
index  .N225  closed down 0.99 percent.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.7092 per U.S. dollar at
08:33 GMT, 0.01 percent firmer than the previous close of
6.7098. 
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were PICC Property and
Casualty Co Ltd  2328.HK , up 1.76 percent, followed by Ping An
Insurance Group Co of China Ltd  2318.HK , gaining 1.57 percent,
and China Tower Corp Ltd  0788.HK , up by 1.08 percent.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Hengan
International Group Company Ltd  1044.HK , which was down 4.53
percent, SINOPHARM GROUP CO LTD  1099.HK , which fell 3.6
percent, and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd  2238.HK , down
by 3.5 percent.
 
** About 1.22 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded,
roughly 68.4 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of
1.78 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous
trading session was 1.92 billion.

 (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu)
 ((samuel.shen@tr.com))