Hong Kong stocks were steady in early deals on Wednesday, as investors awaited policy announcements from China’s third plenum, amid broadly downbeat views on the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.
The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2% at 11:07am local trading time. The Hang Seng Tech Index added 0.6%, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1 per cent.
Tencent slid 2%, while Baidu retreated 0.3%. Alibaba bucked the trend, gaining 1%.
Oil companies PetroChina plummeted 5% and China National Offshore Oil Corporation fell 5.4%, after global benchmark Brent struck a near one-month low overnight. Aluminium producer China Hongqiao dropped 5.3%.
Analysts reacted after China’s National Bureau of Statistics released the sectoral breakdown of the second quarter GDP data on Tuesday.
“In light of new headwinds, including the slump in equity financing and the tightening of tax collection, we hold a cautious view of H2 and expect growth to slow from 5.0 per cent y-o-y in the first half to around 4.2 per cent in the second half,” Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura wrote in a note.
“Beijing may be under pressure to announce more measures in coming months, especially after September, when concerns over the growth slowdown may become more elevated.”
But the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised China’s GDP growth forecast for 2024 to 5 per cent from 4.6 per cent, citing a rebound in private consumption and strong exports.
China’s third plenum kicked off this week – the much-anticipated four-day closed door meeting of its Communist Party’s Central Committee. Previous third plenum unveiled landmark policy changes that are expected to shape the nation’s economic strategy in the coming years.
The outcome of the meeting will be unveiled in a statement on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, traders are increasingly convinced that the US Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rates at its September meeting.
Hong Kong’s government green bonds will also be priced in on Wednesday. The bonds, which are expected to be rated AA+ by S&P Global and AA- by Fitch Ratings, are to be issued under the government’s HK$500 billion (US$64 billion) global medium-term note programme.
Other major Asian markets were mixed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.2 per cent.