HK shares end flat ahead of Sino-U.S. trade deal review

Shenzhou International group

13/08/2020 09:35

* HSI -0.05%, HSCE +0.28%
    * Beijing, Washington to review Phase 1 trade deal progress
    * Telecommunication firms surge; Tencent, Geely fall

    BEIJING, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares closed flat on
Thursday as caution prevailed ahead of a crucial U.S.-China
meeting this weekend to discuss the progress of the bilateral
trade deal.
         
** U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice
Premier Liu He, the principal negotiators for the two countries,
will review the Phase 1 trade pact and likely air mutual
grievances in an increasingly tense relationship during a video
conference this Saturday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2F70LP
    
** Under the Phase 1 trade deal signed in January, China had
pledged to boost purchases of U.S. goods by some $200 billion
over 2017 levels, including agricultural and manufactured
products, energy and services.    
 
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was down at
13.35 points or 0.05% at 25,230.67. The Hang Seng China
Enterprises index  .HSCE  rose 0.28% to 10,244.6.
 
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  rose 0.6%, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT  dipped 0.63%,
the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.56% lower and the property
sector edged up 0.04%.
    
** Telecommunication firms gained with China Unicom Hong Kong
Ltd  0762.HK  surged 25.6%, while China Telecom Corp Ltd
 0728.HK  advanced 11.11%. 
    
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Tencent
Holdings Ltd  0700.HK , which was down 2.02%, China Pacific
Insurance Group Co Ltd  2601.HK , which fell 1.42% and Geely
Automobile Holdings Ltd  0175.HK , down by 1.41%. 
     
** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed up 0.04%
at 3,320.73 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300 
ended down 0.26%.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.11%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed 1.78% firmer.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.9441 per U.S. dollar at
0815 GMT, 0.08% weaker than the previous close of 6.9383. 
    

 (Reporting by Zhang Yan in Beijing, and Andrew Galbraith in
Shanghai, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((zoey.zhang@thomsonreuters.com))