Hong Kong and China Stocks Decline in Monday Morning Trading
Posted: December 18, 2016 Filed under: Asia, China, Economics, Global | Tags: Agence France-Presse, Bank of America, Blue chip (stock market), CMC Markets, CSI 300 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Reserve System, Goldman Sachs, Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong, MSCI, Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange Leave a comment
The Hang Seng Index was down 0.77 per cent or 168.87 points to 21,851.88 on Monday morning session close.
Shares in Hong Kong and mainland China declined at the mi-day trading pause, following retreats in most Asian equity markets as rate increases announced last week by the US Federal Reserve and Hong Kong Monetary Authority lead to capital outflow back to American shores.
The Hang Seng Index fell 168.87 points, or by 0.8 per cent, to 21,851.88, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 1 per cent to 9,374.09. The CSI 300 Index fell 0.2 per cent to 3,339.42.
“With the higher rates in US,Hong Kong stocks could be under pressure as capital could flow out of Hong Kong ,” said Ben Kwong Man-bun, executive director of KGI Asia.
China bond-market selloff shows risks of Beijing’s efforts to restrain credit
Insurers led losses among Chinese companies on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, amid concerns that mainland regulators will further place their market investments under scrutiny.
Ping An Insurance Group Co. fell 1.7 per cent to a four-month low of HK$39.75 while AIA Group Ltd fell 1.5 per cent to HK$43.75.
China Vanke Co. fell in Shenzhen and Hong Kong after the country’s largest property developer scrapped a white knight rescue plan involving Shenzhen Metro, which was intended to help defend it from a hostile takeover.
[Read the full story here, at South China Morning Post]
Vanke shares fell by as much as 6.3 per cent, closing 4.5 per cent lower at HK$18.48 during the lunch pause. In Shenzhen, Vanke’s shares fell as much as 5.3 per cent, dropping 4.7 per cent to 21.40 yuan.
The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1 per cent to 3,119.65. The Shenzhen Component index dropped 0.26 to 10,307.48, while the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.21 per cent to 1,987.49.
The Nasdaq style ChiNext closed 0.60 per cent lower at 1,986.22.
China’s monetary policy will be pursued in a “neutral” manner in the coming year, a departure from last year’s “flexible” stance, according to an analysis by Macquarie Capital’s Larry Hu, parsing the Communist Party’s Central Economic Work Conference last Friday. Read the rest of this entry »
PANIC: U.S. Stocks Lose Sense of Humor
Posted: January 5, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, U.S. News | Tags: Associated Press, Blue chip (stock market), Chevron Corporation, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Economic data, Information technology, Intel, MarketWatch, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 Leave a comment
The decline in oil prices has proved a mixed blessing for stocks in recent months. Though it has led to lower gasoline prices and boosted the fortunes of ordinary consumers, the slide has also curbed profits within the once-booming energy sector, which makes up a growing piece of the U.S. economy amid resurgent domestic oil production.
The Dow industrials tumbled more than 300 points Monday, kicking off the new year on a sour note as a renewed slide in oil prices sent energy shares sharply lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 329 points, or 1.9%, to 17504 in late afternoon trading. The S&P 500 index slid 37 points, or 1.8%, to 2021.
“Oil is first and foremost on everybody’s mind. People are thinking if it’s going to $40, where does that leave the economy?”
— Jesse Lubarsky, senior vice president and equity trader at Raymond James in New York
The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 73 points, or 1.6%, to 4654.
Monday’s losses began at the opening bell and picked up steam as oil prices plumbed new lows, with beleaguered shares of energy companies leading the push lower. U.S. oil prices fell below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly six years Monday, sending shares of S&P 500 energy companies tumbling nearly 4%.
The euro tumbled to a nine-year low Monday as new worries flared over Greece, where a woman in Athens passed a currency-changing business. Associated Press
“It seems like everyone is taking a step back instead of running into the new year,” said Viren Chandrasoma, managing director of equity trading at Credit Suisse . “There hasn’t been a real buying-on-the-dip mentality today.”
The decline in oil prices has proved a mixed blessing for stocks in recent months. Though it has led to lower gasoline prices and boosted the fortunes of ordinary consumers, the slide has also curbed profits within the once-booming energy sector, which makes up a growing piece of the U.S. economy amid resurgent domestic oil production.
“Oil is first and foremost on everybody’s mind,” said Jesse Lubarsky, senior vice president and equity trader at Raymond James in New York. “People are thinking if it’s going to $40, where does that leave the economy?”
Despite Monday’s rout, Wall Street trading desks said activity was relatively light given the scale of the move lower. Rather than sell en masse, many investors started the new year with a more cautious posture following double-digit gains in major indexes last year. Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 