The Hong Kong and mainland markets fell on Wednesday, led by property developers, after Pyongyang threatened to call off talks with Seoul. Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings’ first quarter results were released later in the day….
The Hong Kong and mainland markets fell on Wednesday, led by property developers, after Pyongyang threatened to call off talks with Seoul. Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings’ first quarter results were released later in the day.
North Korea said it would suspend high-level talks with Seoul and may reconsider next month’s summit between Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump, if Washington insisted on pursuing a one-sided denuclearisation deal.
Shares in Tencent closed lower by 0.45 per cent, at HK$395.20.
The Hang Seng Index slipped by 0.13 per cent, or 41.83 points, to 31,110.20, dropping for a second day. The turnover of the mainboard was HK$100 billion (US$12.7 billion) on Wednesday, compared with HK$105 billion on Tuesday and HK$106 billion on Monday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was virtually unchanged at 12,440.12.
“Even though corporate fundamentals are not being changed, market sentiment is being hurt by news coming out of North Korea,” said Kevin Leung, executive director of investment strategy at Haitong International Securities. “Tencent results may also come out lower than expected, weighing on confidence.”
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de facto central bank, intervened in the foreign currency market once again to defend the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, reflecting capital outflows from the city amid a stronger US dollar and higher US interest rates.
It bought HK$1.57 billion of the currency as the Hong Kong dollar fell to the weaker end of its permitted trading band, bringing the HKMA’s total purchases of its own currency since April to about HK$52.
