Hong Kong stocks firm, but trade and protest worries cap gains

Hengan International

08/10/2019 09:32

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 1.4%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 0.5%
    * HSI +0.3%, HSCE +0.5%, CSI300 +0.6%
    * FTSE China A50 +1.1%

    Oct 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Tuesday,
tracking gains in mainland China on stimulus hopes, though
uncertainties around Sino-U.S. trade talks and worries over
protests in the island city curbed gains.  
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  rose 0.3%, to 25,893.40, while
the China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  gained 0.5%, to 10,201.34.  
    ** Prospects for progress in U.S.-China trade talks dimmed
on Monday after Washington blacklisted Chinese companies over
Beijing's treatment of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities,
and President Donald Trump said a quick trade deal was unlikely.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N26S0D8 
    ** Trump and his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, spoke
in generally upbeat terms about this week's discussions with
China, the first such high-level talks in more than two months,
but Trump insisted he would not be satisfied with a partial
deal.
    ** Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday
the government had no plans at present to use colonial-era
emergency powers to introduce more new laws, after a long
weekend of violent protests saw widespread defiance of a ban on
face masks.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N26T0L6  
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.57%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed up 1%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.1305 per U.S. dollar
at 08:14 GMT, 0.24% firmer than the previous close of 7.148. 
    ** The top gainers among H-shares were CSPC Pharmaceutical
Group Ltd  1093.HK , up 6.88%, followed by China Resources Beer
Holdings Co Ltd  0291.HK , gaining 3.27%, and Geely Automobile
Holdings Ltd  0175.HK , up by 2.88%.
    ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were
Hengan International Group Company Ltd  1044.HK , which was down
1.49%, ENN Energy Holdings Ltd  2688.HK , which fell 1.28%, and
SINOPHARM GROUP CO LTD  1099.HK , down by 0.99%.
    ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 
29.79% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

 (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))