SHANGHAI: Hong Kong and mainland stocks ended mixed on Friday as China reported faster than expected fourth quarter GDP growth while worries about possible interest rate rises in the US weighed on the property sector.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 0.7 per cent, or 164 points, to 22,885 at the close, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.8 per cent to 9,715. The benchmark index lost a modest 0.2 per cent this week.
Property developers and utilities firms retreated more than 0.8 per cent on Friday after the Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen said on Thursday that the US central bank should gradually raise interest rates, noting the risk of the US economy overheating.
The property sector led the decline as CK Property slumped 2.2 per cent to HK$50.95 per share.
Kunlun Energy Company was the best performer in the afternoon session among the 50 blue chips, with its shares rising 3.2 per cent to HK$6.16. However, offshore oil producer CNOOC performed the worst among blue chips, closing down 2 per cent to HK$9.8, after the management forecast a lower output and rising capital expenditures in 2017.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 per cent to close at 3,123 while the blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.8 per cent to 3,354. For the week, the CSI300 gained 1.1 per cent, while Shanghai benchmark was up 0.3 per cent.
Among leading sectors, financials took heart after the People’s Bank of China lowered the ratio of cash that banks must set aside as reserves, in an effort to ease seasonal liquidity tightness ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The healthcare sector was another strong gainer.
The PBOC said on their official Weibo account Friday that it has offered temporary liquidity facilities to some banks with a duration of 28 days. The operation will provide more effective liquidity transmission before the week-long Lunar New Year holidays, it said.
“We don’t have to take the market moves on the Hong Kong bourse too seriously,” said Alex Wong Kwok-ying, director from Ample Finance Group, adding that it was mostly a quiet trading day on Friday as people are still awaiting Donald Trump’s inauguration.
