Hong Kong stocks fall ahead of Powell's testimony

JD Health International

22/06/2021 09:37

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used -0.7%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 1.8%
    * HSI -0.6%, HSCE -0.7%, CSI300 +0.6%
    * FTSE China A50 +0.8%

    June 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks closed lower on
Tuesday, as weakness in tech stocks offset a jump in energy
firms, ahead of highly-anticipated testimony from U.S. Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. 
    ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was
down 179.24 points, or 0.63%, at 28,309.76. The Hang Seng China
Enterprises index  .HSCE  fell 0.74% to 10,469.8.
    ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 2.7%, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT  dipped 2.43%,
the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.1% lower and the property
sector rose 0.35%.
    ** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was PetroChina Co Ltd
 0857.HK , which gained 5.85%, while the biggest loser was BYD
Co Ltd  1211.HK , which fell 4.04%.  
    ** All eyes are on Fed chief Jerome Powell who appears
before Congress from 1800 GMT. 
    ** Shares in China's digital currency and blockchain-related
firms retreated as Beijing further tightened its grip on
cryptocurrency trading.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O402J 
    ** China's central bank said on Monday it had recently
summoned some banks and payment firms, including China
Construction Bank  601939.SS  and Alipay, urging them to crack
down harder on cryptocurrency trading.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O30O5 
    ** Huobi Tech  1611.HK , an affiliate of crypto exchange
operator Huobi, tumbled 20%, while digital currency trading
platform developer OKG Technology Holdings Ltd  1499.HK  slumped
5.4%. 
    ** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed up
0.8% at 3,557.41 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index
 .CSI300  ended up 0.62%.
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was barely changed , while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed up 3.12%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.4719 per U.S. dollar
at 08:13, 0.1% weaker than the previous close of 6.4653. 
    ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
38.69% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

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