BEIJING: Hong Kong stocks declined 0.41 per cent, breaking a five-day winning streak and tracking losses in Shanghai in spite of an upbeat lead from Wall Street and Europe.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index eased 102.62 points to 24,807.28 on turnover of HK$94.00 billion ($A15.32 billion).
The market had climbed 4.7 per cent since last Monday’s sell-off that came in line with a 7.7 per cent plunge in Shanghai, after mainland regulators said they were cracking down on margin trading.
Hong Kong dealers had been given a healthy lead from their US and European counterparts, where most markets climbed on hopes Greece’s new anti-austerity government will be able thrash out a new bailout deal with its creditors.
On Wall Street the Dow edged 0.03 per cent higher, the S&P 500 added 0.26 per cent and the Nasdaq put on 0.29 per cent. And in Europe; London, Paris and Germany all closed with big gains.
However, selling was fuelled on news out of China that industrial companies’ profits had fallen eight per cent month-on-month in December. That marked the biggest drop since at least October 2011, Bloomberg News reported.
The National Bureau of Statistic also said combined profits of industrials rose 3.3 per cent year-on-year in 2014, much slower than the 12.2 per cent in 2013.
In share trading China Mobile fell 1.15 per cent to HK$102.70, Tencent shed 0.73 per cent to HK$136.00 and China Life Insurance eased 2.00 per cent HK$31.90.
Sinopec lost 3.84 per cent to HK$6.21 as oil prices sank further, but HSBC added 0.96 per cent to HK$73.30 and Casino operator Sands China put on 2.95 per cent to HK$40.15.
In mainland China the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.89 per cent, or 30.22 points, to 3,352.96 on turnover of 418.3 billion yuan ($A84.62 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, edged up 0.12 per cent, or 1.91 points, to 1,549.93 on turnover of 294.8 billion yuan.
“The weak (industrial firms’) data provide investors with an excuse to sell shares to lock in some profits,” Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities, told Bloomberg.
Weakness in China’s yuan currency has also raised fears of capital leaving the country, analysts said.
“People are worried that… foreign exchange might see accelerated withdrawal,” said Zhang Gang, a strategist for Central China Securities.
From the start of the year to Monday the yuan had weakened around 0.78 per cent against the US dollar.
