Hong Kong stocks end lower as investors brace for Fed decision
13/06/2018 09:25
* Hang Seng index closed 1.2 pct down
* China Enterprises index HSCE falls 1.4 percent
* HSI financial sector sub-index is 1 percent lower;
property
sector down 1.8 percent
June 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks ended lower on
Wednesday as a slump in shares of telecommunications giant ZTE
Corp unnerved market participants, while investors braced for a
Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day.
** The trade frictions between the United States and China have
resurfaced ahead of Friday, by when Washington is expected to
release a list of about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods that
will be subject to a 25 percent tariff.
** The Hang Seng index .HSI closed down 1.2 percent at
30,725.15, while the China Enterprises Index .HSCE ended down
1.4 percent at 12,035.63 points.
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
.HSCIE dipped 1.8 percent, while the IT sector .HSCIIT
dropped 0.96 percent, the financial sector .HSNF was 0.97
percent lower and property sector slid 1.81 percent.
** Investors wiped about $3 billion off embattled Chinese
telecommunications giant ZTE Corp's 0763.HK 000063.SZ market
value as it resumed trade on Wednesday after agreeing to pay up
to $1.4 billion in penalties to the U.S. government.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TF084
** The Hong Kong-listed shares of ZTE slumped 41.6 percent for
the day, their steepest single-session drop since its debut in
2004, following a two-month trading suspension. Its Shenzhen
shares dropped by their 10 percent limit to 28.18 yuan after it
confirmed details of the agreement publicised by the U.S.
government on Monday.
** Investors are also looking forward to the Federal Reserve
policy decision later in the day.
** The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates for the
second time this year after a move in March, but the bigger
question for investors is the outlook for future monetary
tightening amid an ongoing economic expansion. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1TD1NR
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
.MIAPJ0000PUS was weaker by 0.7 percent, while Japan's Nikkei
index .N225 closed up 0.38 percent.
** The yuan CNY=CFXS was quoted at 6.4054 per U.S. dollar as
of 0810 GMT, 0.02 percent weaker than the previous close of
6.404.
** As of previous trading session, the Hang Seng index was up
3.96 percent this year, while China's H-share index rose 4.2
percent. As of previous close, the Hang Seng climbed 2.08
percent this month.
** About 1.68 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded,
roughly 94.1 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of
1.79 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous
trading session was 1.42 billion shares.
** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 18.88
percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
(Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))