Hong Kong stocks sink as poor China data, earnings disappointments spark sell-off
stocks posted the first back-to-back decline in two weeks on Friday after China's July economic data fell short of estimates and a raft of disappointing earnings reports weighed on sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.2 per cent to 25,216.09 as of 10.23am local time, extending a 0.4 per cent decline on Thursday. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both added 0.3 per cent.
E-commerce operator JD.com tumbled 3.4 per cent to HK$120.80 after second-quarter net income dropped 51 per cent from a year earlier, reflecting the fallout of a price war in the industry. Geely Automobile Holdings slid 2.9 per cent to HK$18.40 after profit dropped 14 per cent in the first half.
Data on industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investments released by the statistics bureau on Friday all fell short of economists' projections. A separate report released earlier also showed that a decline in property prices continued in July.
'Economic momentum is weakening, despite strong export growth,' said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management in Hong Kong.
However, he said the gross domestic product grew faster than the full-year target of 5 per cent in the first half of the year, so the government could tolerate a moderate slowdown in the second half.
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