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Hong Kong stocks at 1-month highs on cooling US inflation, upbeat China retail and industrial data

  • Easing inflation in the US and better than anticipated increase in China’s retail and industrial figures aided sentiment
  • Chinese tech majors Tencent and JD.com jump ahead of their quarterly results due after close of play

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A surprise increase in China’s retail sales in October helped to lift trading sentiment in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg
Jiaxing Li
Hong Kong stocks rallied as cooling inflation in the US bolstered bets that interest rate increases may have peaked, while China’s positive retail and industrial figures helped to ease concerns about the health of the nation’s economy. Tencent and JD.com jumped before their earnings cards.
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The Hang Seng Index surged 3.9 per cent to 18,079.00 at the closing of Wednesday trading, the best gain since March 1 and lifting the benchmark to a one-month high. The Tech Index jumped 4.4 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 per cent.

All but one of the 80 index members advanced. Alibaba Group rallied 5.1 per cent to HK$83.30, food delivery platform Meituan advanced 4.6 per cent to HK$113.30, and search engine operator Baidu jumped 5 per cent to HK$109. Tencent jumped 4.8 per cent to HK$322.60 and e-commerce platform JD.com surged 6.4 per cent to HK$105.90 before their quarterly results, due after the close of trading.

HSBC gained 2.7 per cent to HK$59.90 and Sun Hung Kai Properties strengthened 3.7 per cent to HK$80.75, leading local banks and developers higher. A US government report on Tuesday showed inflation slowed more than expected, underpinning bets that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate-increase cycle is over.

Further lifting sentiment, China’s retail sales jumped 7.6 per cent last month while industrial output expanded 4.6 per cent, both growing at a faster pace from September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.
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