HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks edged lower Thursday morning, extending previous weakness as index heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd. 0700, -0.68% TCEHY, -0.99% took a solid loss on reports that its weighting in the benchmark might be reduced next week.
The Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.59% were down 0.3%, with Tencent off 2.2%. The Hang Seng Index’s Co. — a unit of Hang Seng Bank Ltd. 0011, -0.56% HSNGF, +1.26% — is scheduled to change the main index’s component weightings after Friday’s stock close, with reports saying that Tencent and several other blue chips might see a smaller presence in the wake of plans to merge index components Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. 0001, -1.06% CHEUY, +0.99% and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. 0013, -1.43% HUWHY, +0.67% (Hutchison Whampoa shares were down 1.1%, and those of sister company Cheung Kong dropped 0.9%.) Mainland Chinese banks mostly rose, however, as reports said the People’s Bank of China had pumped another 160 billion yuan ($26 billion) into the banking system, leading to a net weekly injection of more than 200 billion yuan, the highest in over a year. China Construction Bank Corp. 0939, +1.77% CICHF, -0.60% 601939, -0.90% advanced 0.5%, Bank of Communications Co. 3328, +1.42% BKFCF, -3.61% 601328, -0.82% and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. 1288, +1.06% ACGBF, +2.78% 601288, -0.92% rose 0.3% each, and Bank of China Ltd. 3988, +1.41% BACHY, -0.36% 601988, -0.74% added 0.2%, while China Minsheng Banking Corp. 1988, -0.33% 600016, -1.60% CMAKY, -1.68% lost 0.4%, China Merchants Bank Co. 3968, +1.24% CIHHF, -4.82% 600036, -0.96% retreated 0.3%, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. 1398, +1.63% IDCBF, -4.83% 601398, -0.46% slipped 0.2%. Among Hong Kong’s local lenders, Bank of East Asia Ltd. 0023, +0.78% BKEAF, +4.75% dipped 0.2% ahead of the release of its results due later in the day. Rivals Hang Seng Bank and BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. [HK:2388] also pulled back 0.2% apiece. However, London-based banking majors HSBC Holdings PLC 0005, +0.93% HBSC HSBA, -0.95% and Standard Chartered PLC 2888, +0.00% STAN, +0.34% edged up 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively, after heavy losses the previous day. Over on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -0.15% gave up 0.5%.
