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Hong Kong stock market
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Xpeng, BYD skid as Hong Kong stocks rattled by wider Covid-19 lockdowns in China, earnings setback

  • Chinese property developers and electric-car makers led losses, after a string of pandemic-hit home sales and earnings reports
  • Other Asia markets were mixed as traders await a US job report that could entrench higher interest-rate bias among Federal Reserve policymakers

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People walk past the Exchange Square in Central, Hong Kong on August 18. Photo: Matthew Miller
Zhang Shidong
Hong Kong stocks fell, completing a third week of losses as lockdowns in Shenzhen and Chengdu revived investor concerns about production curbs and damage to corporate earnings.
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The Hang Seng Index declined 0.7 per cent to 19,452.09 at the close, the lowest close in a week. The index lost 3.6 per cent for the week. The Hang Seng Tech Index slipped 1.4 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 per cent.

Electric-car makers fell after reporting weaker than expected sales in August. Xpeng slid 5.2 per cent to HK$66.80, Li Auto dropped 2 per cent to HK$108.90 and Nio lost 3.3 per cent to HK$145.50. BYD fell 1.8 per cent to HK$228.40, taking this week’s plunge to 14 per cent after Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its holding.

Chinese property developers also declined after a string of pandemic-hit earnings reports Country Garden Holdings slumped 6.1 per cent to HK$2.17, and China Overseas Land and Investment retreated 2.3 per cent to HK$20.95.

“Repeated lockdowns have hurt market sentiment,” said Wang Chen, a partner at Xufunds Investment Management in Shanghai. “That has added to investors’ concerns about the outlook of the economy, which has already been battered by rising raw-material costs and shrinking demand. Such a scenario will continue to put corporate earnings at risk.”

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