Beijing push against cut-throat prices lifts HK stocks
The Hang Seng Index closed on Friday up 326.71 points, or 1.33 percent, at 24,825.66. File photo: RTHK
Mainland China and Hong Kong stocks rose on Friday and closed the week higher, as Beijing's campaign against cut-throat price competition lifted investor sentiment.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended at 24,825.66, up 326.71 points or 1.33 percent.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.51 percent to end at 8,986.47 while the Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 1.65 percent to 5,538.83.
EV maker Li Auto has climbed around 15 percent this week, set for its biggest weekly gain since September 2024 after China's cabinet vowed on Wednesday to rein in what it described as "irrational" competition in the electric vehicle sector, pledging to step up cost investigations and enhance price monitoring.
Tech majors traded in Hong Kong rebounded more than 5 percent this week, partly buoyed by optimism after Nvidia said it would ramp up supply of Chinese-compliant H20 chips in the coming months and look to bring more advanced semiconductors to the world's second-largest technology market.
Shares of Alibaba rose 2.9 percent and were up 10 percent this week.
Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.5 percent at 3,534.48 while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.37 percent higher at 10,913.84.
The combined turnover of these two indexes stood at 1.57 trillion yuan, up from 1.54 trillion yuan on Thursday.
Stocks related to rare earth permanent magnet and lithium mining led gains while stocks in the games and photovoltaic sectors suffered major losses.
The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.34 percent to close at 2,277.15.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index has gained 1.1 percent this week, logging a fourth straight weekly rise, while the Hang Seng Index advanced 2.8 percent.
China's top leaders pledged to step up regulation of aggressive price-cutting by Chinese companies, as the world's second-biggest economy struggles to shake off persistent deflationary pressures.
UBS analysts expect China to intensify its campaign against involution competition over the coming quarters. (Reuters/Xinhua)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
24 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong may return to operating account surplus in 2025-26: Paul Chan
Hong Kong is on track to return to an operating account surplus for the 2025-26 financial year, with the result largely fuelled by a surge in stamp duty income from the city's robust stock market performance, the finance chief has said. Advertisement Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po made his prediction of a surplus – set to occur a year earlier than previously estimated – on Sunday, while cautioning that economic growth in the second half of the year would be less pronounced than in the first, without the export surge driven by 'rush shipments' ahead of renewed US tariffs. 'For stamp duty, we expect to gain around HK$130 million [US$16.5 million] for every HK$100 billion of transactions because some transactions, such as the exchange-traded products, are exempt from stamp duty,' he told a radio programme. The Hang Seng Index has recorded an increase of more than 25 per cent so far this year. The average daily turnover in the stock market for the first half of the year was around $240 billion, an increase of 120 per cent year on year. Hong Kong's stock exchange earlier reported a surge in IPO activity in the first quarter of the year, with 17 new listings attracting a total of HK$18.7 billion, nearly quadrupling year-on-year figures. Advertisement 'If the momentum goes on, the operating account in the 2025-26 financial year, which we earlier predicted to suffer a deficit of several billion dollars, may return to surplus,' Chan said. The government earlier predicted that the operating account would return to a surplus in the 2026-27 financial year or later.
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
It's time to align Hong Kong's trading days with the mainland's
Money never sleeps in Hong Kong, except during some public holidays. The city is known for having many official days off. Often stock trading stops while other markets, including the one in mainland China, continue on their merry way of making money. In recent years, however, the city's stock exchange has been enhancing its services during traditional non-trading days. The next step, hopefully, will be to align holiday trading on Stock Connect with the mainland. Hong Kong's stock market is already dominated by Chinese companies, which account for around 80 per cent of its capitalisation. Since 2022, a large number of futures and options can be traded during holidays. Currency futures and options were included in March last year. The Hong Kong exchange has also moved to enhance the trading calendar for the Stock Connect programme, on both the northbound and southbound routes, to allow investors to trade on all days when both the mainland and Hong Kong markets are open. The Stock Connect, which links stock trading in Hong Kong with Shanghai and Shenzhen, enables a cross-border, two-way investing flow. It has offered more opportunities in Hong Kong for mainland investors and easier mainland access for international investors. Last year, the northbound and southbound average daily turnover was 150 billion yuan (US$20.7 billion) and HK$48.2 billion (US$6.2 billion), respectively, accounting for around 6 per cent and 18 per cent of the total turnover of the mainland and Hong Kong markets. The path forward is clear. More local holidays, though not all, can be open for trading. Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas can be included since they are normal working days on the mainland. Additional trading days on the calendar can ease market disruptions caused by a mismatch in holidays, which has frustrated fund managers on both sides of the border.
South China Morning Post
18 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China-built satellite station a ‘shining' example of support for Namibian space programme
On the outskirts of the Namibian capital Windhoek, a Chinese-funded and built satellite data receiving ground station symbolises China's growing cooperation in Africa's nascent space industry. The station was described by the Chinese embassy as 'a shining example of China-Namibia cooperation ' as they celebrated the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations. In a social media post on July 18 announcing the completion of the satellite facility ahead of time earlier this year, the embassy said it aimed to support Namibia in developing its space-related infrastructure and training technical talent , while enhancing its capacity in remote sensing satellite applications'. The ground station will primarily receive, process and distribute remote sensing satellite data for various applications such as environmental monitoring, agriculture , disaster management and resource assessment in the southwestern African country. China will also provide technical training to dozens of engineers to build up Namibia's capacity to operate and use the station independently. This ongoing cooperation highlights China's growing influence in space, as it helps African nations to build their space capabilities through strategic partnerships.
