Hong Kong Market gains 1%

Headline indices of the Hong Kong share market advanced on Tuesday, 18 June 2019, on tracking gains in the Wall Street overnight and Mainland A-share market today. However, market gains were limited as many investors took to the sidelines ahead of results from the US Federal Reserve's meeting this week. At closing bell, the Hang Seng Index rose 1%, or 271.61 points, to 27,498.77. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was up 0.8%, or 79.13 points, to 10,507.65.

The US market ended modestly higher on Monday, amid investor caution ahead of a highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting, which is expected to give further hints about what would be the central bank's first rate cut in more than a decade. On Wall Street, the Dow closed up 0.1% at 26,112.53. The Fed raised rates nine times over the last three and a half years as the economy recovered and put millions of Americans back to work. But President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff policies have shaken confidence and some central bankers have begun to acknowledge a chill in the air.

 

The Fed, facing fresh demands by US President Donald Trump to cut interest rates, begins a two-day meeting later on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged this time but possibly lay the groundwork for a rate cut later this year. Focus is now on how close the Fed could be to cutting interest rates amid the raging US-China trade war, signs of the economy losing steam and pressure by President Trump to ease policy.

Meanwhile, on the U.S.-China trade front, hundreds of businesses stateside are attempting to send a message to U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to discourage them from increasing tariffs on China. That comes as U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says Trump is perfectly happy to impose new tariffs on China if the two economic powerhouses don't make a deal.

Investors are closely watching to see if U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will meet on the sidelines of the summit to discuss trade, after negotiations broke down last month and both sides raised tariffs on each others' goods. Trump is preparing to extend tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese imports and has said he would decide whether to trigger them after talks with Xi.

Shares of Want Want China Holdings (151 HK) climbed after rice cracker and flavoured milk maker reported a 11.6 per cent jump in net profit to 3.48 billion yuan (US$502 million) for the financial year ended on March 2019. Revenue expanded by 2.8 per cent to 20.7 billion yuan.

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