Media365
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 per cent to 24,940.58 as of 11.02am local time. Still, the benchmark has risen 1.6 per cent for the week on bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates on the back of the weak labour market data.
The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.1 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both rose 0.1 per cent.
Wharf Real Estate Investment slumped 7.6 per cent to HK$23.76 after first-half operating profit dropped 5 per cent from a year ago. Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp tumbled 5.1 per cent to HK$50.30 after net income for the second quarter fell short of analysts’ estimates. Alibaba Group Holding fell 1.6 per cent to HK$117.30 and Tencent Holdings slipped 0.8 per cent to HK$562.50.
Data on China’s consumer and producer prices, due tomorrow, will be in focus, with deflation concerns highlighted as a key headwind for China’s economy. Factory-gate prices probably fell 3.3 per cent from a year ago for a 34th straight month in July, and consumer inflation may have dropped 0.1 per cent, according to a projection by economists polled by Bloomberg.
“Prices are running at low levels and as a result, industrial companies’ profits have also been languishing,” said Wei Wei, an analyst at Ping An Securities.
