HONG Kong stocks fell on Thursday (Oct 3) as investors took profits, ending a six-session rally fuelled by a flurry of Chinese stimulus measures.
The Hang Seng index closed down 330.22 points or 1.47 per cent at 22,113.51, after rising 6 per cent on Wednesday in its bet session since November 2022.
The index had surged more than 30 per cent from its lowest level in September by Wednesday’s close.
Investors booked gains across high-flying sectors such as property, financials and technology.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.58 per cent, while the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 3.46 per cent.
Hong Kong-listed mainland property developers tumbled 5.9 per cent, and financial sector stocks slipped 0.8 per cent.
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“Given the current market momentum and our tracking of sentiment on China’s social media, the risk of repeating the epic boom and bust in 2015 could rise rapidly in coming weeks,” Nomura’s chief China economist Ting Lu said in a note.
He said the market frenzy could complicate Beijing’s future policy stimulus.
“The eventual scale and content of the fiscal package might be quite improvised and uncertain due to the brewing stock bubble and still-controversial debates on what Beijing should focus on,” he said.
Meituan, China Merchants Bank and CNOOC were the top gainers among H-shares, up 3.96 per cent, 3.78 per cent and 2.45 per cent respectively.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Longfor Group Holdings, which was down 9.49 per cent, Xpeng, which fell 8.36 per cent and JD.Com, down by 7.94 per cent.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.19 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.97 per cent.
Mainland Chinese markets are shut from Oct 1 to Oct 7 for the week-long Golden Week holiday. REUTERS
