Hong Kong shares end lower as trade uncertainty rattles sentiment

Wharf Real Estate Investment

21/05/2019 09:37

* Hang Seng index ends down 0.47%
China Enterprises index HSCE inches higher
    * HSI financial sector sub-index ends flat; property sector
down
1%

    May 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Hang Seng index  .HSI  on
Tuesday ended at its lowest close in nearly 16 weeks as
investors worried about the risk of escalating trade tensions
between Washington and Beijing despite a temporary easing of
restrictions China's Huawei.
    
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 130.37
points, or 0.47%, at 27,657.24, its lowest close since Jan. 30.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises index  .HSCE  eked out a 0.01%
gain to end at 10,634.62.
 
** Washington on Monday temporarily eased trade restrictions
imposed last week on China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd  HWT.UL 
in an attempt to minimise disruption for its customers. But
Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, dismissed the move and said the
tech firm had prepared for U.S. action.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N22W19U
 
** The easing of restrictions and Ren's comments boosted some
Huawei suppliers in mainland markets, but failed to overcome
investor concerns in Hong Kong. A sub-index tracking IT firms
 .HSCIIT  ended down 0.2%.
 
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  dipped 0.9%, the financial sector  .HSNF  ended 0.34%
lower and the property sector dipped 1.02%.
 
** A visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to a rare-earths
producer in Southern China sparked a massive surge in the price
of another rare-earths firm, Hong Kong-listed China Rare Earth
Holdings Ltd  0769.HK , amid speculation that the materials
might be used as countermeasures in the Sino-U.S. trade spat.
China Rare Earth surged over two-fold to its highest close since
August 2015.
 
** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was WH Group Ltd  0288.HK ,
which gained 1.68%, while the biggest loser was Wharf Real
Estate Investment Company Ltd  1997.HK , which ended 2.41%
weaker.
 
** China's main Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  closed up 1.23%
at 2,905.97 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300 
ended 1.35% higher.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.14%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed down 0.14%.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.9155 per U.S. dollar at
0824 GMT, 0.03% weaker than the previous close of 6.9133. 
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were China Huarong Asset
Management Co Ltd  2799.HK , which closed up 2.21%, followed by
China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd  1359.HK , which ended 1.6%
higher and China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd  1988.HK , which
ended 1.6% firmer.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were CNOOC
Ltd  0883.HK , which closed down 2.05%, China Railway Group Ltd
 0390.HK , which ended 2% weaker and Shenzhou International
Group Holdings Ltd  2313.HK , which ended down 1.6%.
 
** About 2.30 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded,
roughly 129.8% of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.77
billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading
session was 2.33 billion.

 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 2083 0079; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))