Hong Kong stocks post biggest monthly drop in a year, dragged by tech shares

KRAFTON

29/07/2022 09:27

(Updates closing prices, adds details)
    SHANGHAI, July 29 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks ended lower
to post the biggest monthly drop in a year on Friday, pressured
by sharp losses in major tech firms, which reignited investor
worries over clampdown on the tech sector, while mainland China
stocks also fell.
    
** At the close, China's blue-chip CSI300 Index  .CSI300  fell
1.32% to 4,170.10 points, and it also lost 7% to book the
biggest monthly loss since March.
    
** The Shanghai Composite Index  .SSEC  ended the session lower
by 0.89% at 3,253.24 points and lost 4.3% in July, snapping a
two-month winning streak.

** In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index  .HSI  dropped
2.26% to 20,156.51 points. It lost 7.8% for the month, booking
the biggest monthly drop since July 2021. Chinese H-shares
listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  plunged 2.78% to 6,885.48 points.
    
** Sharp losses in Hong Kong were led by major tech firms as
investors worried about continued clampdown on the sector after
a Wall Street Journal report said Chinese billionaire Jack Ma
planned to cede control of financial technology firm Ant in an
effort to move away from affiliate Alibaba.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2Z92L6
    
** Hong Kong shares of Alibaba Group  9988.HK  slumped 6.1% to
HK $93.1 at the close.
    
** Shares of China's food ordering and delivery platform Meituan
 3690.HK  fell 6.22% to HK $176.30 after China's Hangzhou market
regulator said on Thursday it had summoned Meituan  3690.HK ,
Ele.me and other take-out delivery platforms over "vicious"
price-cutting and poor regulation.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nP8N2Z801C
    
** Another internet gaming and social media giant Tencent
Holdings  0700.HK  also posted huge losses on Friday by plunging
4.36% to HK$306.8 after a source told Reuters that India blocked
a popular battle-royale format game from Krafton Inc
 259960.KS , a South Korean company backed by Tencent, using a
law it has invoked since 2020 to ban Chinese apps on national
security concerns.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z921W
    
** Hang Seng Tech Index  .HSTECH , a gauge that tracks the
performance of major tech firms listed in the financial hub,
fell 4.86% by the close.

** China will try hard to achieve the best possible results for
the economy this year, state media said on Thursday after a
high-level meeting of the ruling Communist Party, dropping
previous calls that it will strive to meet its 2022 growth
target.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z90PN

** Many analysts believe the government omitted mentioning of
reaching full-year GDP growth target, a sign that fresh stimulus
could be held off for the time being.

** "In its guidelines for policies, the Politburo meeting did
not signal any major new stimulus that could be on the way,"
said Wang Tao, head of China economic research at UBS.
    
"Instead, more supportive fiscal and monetary policy were to
mainly come from 'fuller and better utilization' of existing
measures."
    
** The Politburo meeting vowed to stick with the zero-COVID
strategy and pressured the tourism sector on Friday. An index
tracking tourism-related stocks  .CSI930633  lost 3.6% for the
day and more than 12% for the month.
   

 (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh.V and
David Evans)
 ((winni.zhou@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 2083 0100; Reuters
Messaging: winni.zhou.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))