Hong Kong shares end firmer; eyes on Fed minutes

Hong Kong and China Gas

21/08/2019 09:48

* Hang Seng up 0.2%, H shares gain 0.4%
    * Fed minutes coming, central bankers to meet this week
    * More protests due; Alibaba delays listing - sources

    HONG KONG, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks closed a tick
higher on Wednesday, while markets bet on central banks to ease
policy and stave off fears of global economic slowdown amid
consistent headwinds from the Sino-U.S. trade dispute.
      
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was up 0.2%
at 26,270.04 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index
 .HSCE  ended 0.4% firmer.
** The sub-index for energy shares  .HSCIE  closed 0.1% down,
while the IT sector  .HSCIIT  settled down 0.5%, the financial
sector  .HSNF  ended 0.2% higher and the property sector  .HSNP 
closed up 0.6%.
** Asian shares flatlined as worries about global recession and
endless trade wars wrestled with hopes for more monetary and
fiscal stimulus to keep growth going.  MKTS/GLOB 
** Traders are betting on the U.S. Federal Reserve to deliver
another 25 basis point cut next month, while the central bank
will release minutes of its July policy meeting later in the
day.  FEDWATCH 
** The People's Bank of China lowered its new lending reference
rate slightly on Tuesday and kicked off interest rate reforms
designed to reduce corporate borrowing costs.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25G0IC
** Bank of East Asia Ltd (BEA)  0023.HK  warned on Wednesday
that weeks of protests in Hong Kong could hit the economies of
the island city and mainland China as demonstrators prepared a
sit-in at a subway and site of a mid-summer mob attack. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25H0YX urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25H1BM 
** Alibaba Group Holding Ltd  BABA.N  has delayed its up to $15
billion listing in Hong Kong amid growing political unrest in
the Asian financial hub, two people with knowledge of the matter
told Reuters.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25H123
** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was China Resources Land Ltd
 1109.HK , which gained 4.5%, while the biggest loser was Hong
Kong and China Gas Co Ltd  0003.HK , which dropped 5.3%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed down 0.3%.
** About 1.70 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The
volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.82 billion.
** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
29.98% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.  .HSCAHPI        
    

 (Reporting by Noah Sin, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((noah.sin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
noah.sin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))