Hong Kong stocks ended a two-day losing streak, with Xiaomi and AIA rising on stellar earnings and JD.com leading the recovery in technology stocks after a wave of selling.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent to 17,460.54 at the lunch break in local trading. The Tech Index rose 0.8 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index remained almost unchanged.
Xiaomi rose 8.3 percent to HK$18.98, the biggest gainer among the 82 blue-chip index members. The company reported a 32 percent jump in second-quarter revenue to 88.9 billion yuan (US$12.4 billion) on strong smartphone sales and electric vehicle deliveries. Insurer AIA rose 4.7 percent to HK$53.80 after its first-half profit rose 53 percent amid a mainland Chinese spending spree.
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Xiaomi shares rose sharply in Hong Kong after a jump in sales. Photo: Reuters alt=Xiaomi shares rose sharply in Hong Kong after a jump in sales. Photo: Reuters>
JD.com rose 2 percent to HK$104.40, recouping some of Wednesday’s losses caused by Walmart’s plan to sell its equity stake. Alibaba rose 0.7 percent to HK$80.50, Tencent added 0.3 percent to HK$372.60 and Baidu gained 1.5 percent to HK$86.30.
Sentiment improved after the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting removed doubts about a possible rate cut next month. The “overwhelming majority” of Fed officials said it would probably be appropriate to ease monetary policy at the next meeting if economic data continued to be roughly as expected, according to minutes of the Fed’s July 30-31 meeting.
WuXi Biologics’ gains were limited, with the company falling 7.9 percent to HK$10.46 after first-half profits plunged 24 percent to 1.8 billion yuan. Sister company WuXi Apptech lost 2.7 percent to HK$31.15.
Meanwhile, mainland property developers continue to struggle as sales show no signs of recovery as Beijing’s bailout package remains ineffective. Longfor lost 6.3 percent to close at HK$8.44, while China Resources Land lost 2.3 percent to close at HK$21.50. The decline followed distressed rival Kaisa reporting higher losses for the first half of the year amid the ongoing property crisis.
“Local market momentum could be somewhat subdued this week unless fundamentals improve significantly, while volatility is likely to persist during the earnings season,” said Kenny Ng, strategist at Everbright Securities International. Low trading volumes could further dampen market momentum, he added.
Other major Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was little changed.
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