Hong Kong stocks end weaker as investors assess trade war impact

Want Want China Holdings

18/07/2019 09:43

July 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares closed lower on
Thursday, as investors closely monitor corporate earnings to
assess the impact of Sino-U.S. trade frictions amid uncertainty
over economic prospects.
        
** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  ended down 0.5% at 28,461.66,
while the China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  closed 0.6% lower at
10,784.55 points.
    
** Sentiment was also dented by a weak corporate earnings season
so far in the United States, which underscored the negative
impact of the trade standoff between Beijing and Washington.  
   
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  ended down 1.3%, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT  closed
1.52% lower, the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.06% lower and
the property sector closed 0.38% down.
 
** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Want Want China Holdings
Ltd  0151.HK , which closed up 1.45%, while the biggest loser
was Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd  2382.HK , which ended
2.33% weaker.
 
** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed down
1.04% at 2,901.18 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index
 .CSI300  ended down 0.95%.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.29%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed down 1.97%.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.875 per U.S. dollar at
08:26 GMT, 0.02% weaker than the previous close of 6.8733. 
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were China Resources Beer
Holdings Co Ltd  0291.HK  up 2.34%, followed by PICC Property
and Casualty Co Ltd  2328.HK , gaining 2.19% and China Pacific
Insurance Group Co Ltd  2601.HK , closing up by 1.71%.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China
National Building Material Co Ltd  3323.HK , which ended down
2.61%, CNOOC Ltd  0883.HK , which closed 2.28% weaker and China
Gas Holdings Ltd  0384.HK , which closed 2.25% lower.
 

 (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((samuel.shen@tr.com))