Hong Kong stocks edged up on Friday after China more than doubled the duty-free shopping limits for mainland tourists to the city, spurring some optimism about reviving growth and consumption in the former British colony. Still, overall sentiment remained subdued, with the benchmark heading for its first monthly loss since January.
The Hang Seng Index gained 0.3% as of 11.21am local time on Friday. For the month, the benchmark has lost 2 per cent, set for its first such loss in five months. The Hang Seng Tech Index down 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1%.
Sentiment got a lift after a statement from China’s commerce ministry said that the cap for duty-free shopping by mainland tourists entering Hong Kong and Macau would be raised to 12,000 yuan from 5,000 yuan. The move is expected to bring additional consumption of as much as HK$17.6 billion to the city every year, according to the Hong Kong government.
Online travel agency Trip.com Group gained 0.3%. Among other leading gainers, Sunny Optical advanced 1.8% and BYD Electronic climbed 3.7%.
Still, investors have been dumping stocks and flocking to government bonds for havens, as the latest set of data showed a deceleration of profit growth for industrial companies, falling foreign direct investment and declines in home prices.
Overseas investors have pulled out US$5 billion of Chinese onshore stocks in June, the largest monthly outflow since October, according to HSBC.
Meanwhile, traders await data on US personal consumption expenditure due Friday night, a measure of inflation preferred by the US Federal Reserve. It probably increased 2.6 per cent from a year earlier in May, slowing from a 2.7 per cent increase for the previous month, according to the consensus estimate of economists tracked by Bloomberg.
For the month, three quarters of the 82 members on the Hang Seng Index have posted losses, with Xinyi Solar Holding, Zhongsheng Group Holdings and JD Health International being the worst performers with declines of at least 18 per cent.
Three companies started trading on Friday. Laopu Gold, a jewellery retailer, jumped 55% and Tianju Dihe Technology, a provider of application programming interface service, rallied 31%, while Dida, a ride-hailing platform operator, slumped 10%.
Other major Asian markets traded broadly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4 per cent.
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