HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks trimmed their opening losses Wednesday, following a previous decline triggered by worrying inflation data from China.
The Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.21% inched down 0.1%, backing off slowly from a 0.4% loss at the open. The mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.6%. Airlines rose sharply on hopes for lower fuel costs after international crude futures took a hard hit overnight in New York and London.
As a result, China Southern Airlines Co. 1055, +5.98% ZNH, +0.16% 600029, +9.56% spiked 6%, China Eastern Airlines Corp. 0670, +4.83% CHEAF, -3.03% 600115, +5.31% rose 4.3%, and Air China Ltd. 0753, +2.26% AIRYY, -0.43% 601111, +5.02% improved by 2.9%. However, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. 0293, -0.24% CPCAY, -0.10% — which sometimes agressively hedges its fuel-cost exposure — inched up just 0.1%. Several shipping shares also benefited from the oil fall and its implications for bunker fuel, as Orient Overseas International Ltd. 0316, +2.49% climbed 2.4%, China Shipping Container Lines Co. 2866, +1.27% CITAF, +0.00% advanced 1.3%, and SITC International Holdings Co. 1308, +0.23% crept 0.2% higher. Mainland Chinese financial stocks also gained broadly, with movers including China Minsheng Banking Corp. 1988, +0.90% 600016, +0.56% CMAKY, -3.45% (up 1.4%), Bank of China Ltd. 3988, +0.95% BACHY, -2.54% 601988, +2.29% (up 1.2%), and Bank of Communications Co. 3328, +0.96% BKFCF, -3.61% 601328, +0.66% (up 1.1%). Among major mainland China insurers, China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co. 0966, +1.84% added 1.4%, and PICC Property & Calsualty Co. 2328, -0.26% PPCCY, +1.53% rose 1.3%. Over on the mainland itself, the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.30% rebounded 1.2%, helped by many of the same sectors that supported the Hong Kong market. These included a 7.5% jump for Air China’s Shanghai shares, a 9.9% rally for China Southern Airlines, and a 2.8% gain for Bank of China.
