Hong Kong Stocks end mixed

Headline indices of the Hong Kong share market closed mixed on Wednesday, 03 October 2018, following the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street and worries about rising U.S.-China tensions. Meanwhile, risk appetite was hit by revived fears of the eurozone debt crisis after European Union officials expressed concerns about Italy's budget plan, which would widen the deficit significantly. At closing bell, the Hang Seng Index fell 24.45 points or 0.09% to 27,100.93. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 34.15 points or 0.32% to 10,788.71. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking the Commerce & Industry sector added 0.1%, Utilities sector rose 0.5%, and properties sector added 0.5%, while financial sector fell 0.4%.

U.S.-China trade relations remained in focus after the U.S., Mexico and Canada signed a new trade agreement. A clause in that agreement discourages a free-trade deal between any of the three members and so-called "nonmarket" countries, fueling speculation it could be aimed at nations such as China. The months long Sino-American trade spat has so far resulted in punitive import tariffs by both nations and helped drive the benchmark Hang Seng Index into a technical bear market last month.

 

Among individual stocks, Construction company Wan Kei Group Holdings rose 5.1% after agreeing to buy a 51.3% stake in Blue Marble, which indirectly owns economic interests in sports event organizer OPCO Group, for HK$320 million ($40.8 million).

Property developer Lippo China Resources declined 2% after saying it expects to record a net fair value loss of over HK$180 million for the six months ended Sept. 30.

Mining and cosmetics products company China Billion Resources slumped 11.1% after saying its controlling shareholder Long Xiaobo directly reduced his stake in the company to 25.93% from 55% through direct and indirect sales of shares.

Tencent (00700) edged down 0.8% to HK$314.6 after its online-music arm Tencent Music Entertainment filed its IPO with the US SEC, listing its offering size as US$1 billion.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed mixed on Tuesday, amid lingering uncertainty about trade after President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 122.73 points or 0.5% to 26,773.94. The S&P 500 edged down 1.16 points or less than a tenth of a% to 2,923.43, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 37.76 points or 0.5% to 7,999.55.

The major European markets ended lower on Tuesday. The German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. The French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.7%.

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