HK shares end weaker on trade jitters, mixed China data

Techtronic Industries Co

08/05/2019 09:52

* HSI -1.2 pct, H-shares -1.5 pct; A-shares, Asia slide
    * China April exports undershoot, adding to tariff risk
    * Imports beat estimates, but sustainability questioned 

    HONG KONG, May 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks closed lower
on Wednesday, tracking a decline in global markets, as China's
mixed bag of trade data and fears of an escalation in the
Sino-U.S. tariff spat stoked an investor exodus from riskier
assets.
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 1.2
percent at 29,003.20 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises
index  .HSCE  closed 1.5 percent weaker.
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  closed 1.8 percent weaker, while the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  ended 0.4 percent firmer, the financial sector  .HSNF 
ended 1.7 percent lower and the property sector  .HSNP  closed
down 0.6 percent.
** China's exports unexpectedly shrank in April, though imports
surprised with their first increase in five months, painting a
mixed picture of the economy. Investors had hoped the data would
add to signs that the country's economy is steadying. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N22J3X2
** Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due to visit Washington on
Thursday and Friday for trade talks in a last-ditch bid to avert
a sharp increase in tariffs on Chinese goods ordered by U.S.
President Donald Trump.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N22J2SC
** U.S. officials have accused China of reneging in the past
week on substantial commitments made during months of
negotiations aimed at ending their trade war, prompting Trump to
issue a new deadline to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of
Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N22I1EV
** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed down 1.1
percent. The blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  lost 1.4 percent.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.8 percent, while Japan's Nikkei
index  .N225  closed down 1.5 percent.
** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Tencent Holdings Ltd
 0700.HK , which ended 1.1 percent firmer after gaining
regulatory approval and rolling out a new video game. The
biggest loser on the index was Techtronic Industries Co Ltd
 0669.HK , down 4.4 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N22K1EK
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were New
China Life Insurance Co Ltd  1336.HK  and China National
Building Material Co Ltd  3323.HK , both closed 4.1 percent
lower, followed by PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd  2328.HK ,
which ended 3.8 percent lower.
** About 2.25 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The
volume traded in the previous trading session was 2.06 billion.
** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 22.78
percent over the 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))