hong Kong’s Hang Seng falls 2% as tech stocks drop; China’s GDP misses expectations
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2% as tech stocks dropped, and mainland China markets fell more than 1% after the country’s GDP missed expectations.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong declined 2.29% in the final hour of trade, and the Hong Kong Tech index slipped 3.17%.
Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares dropped more than 4% overnight after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company’s executives were summoned by authorities investigating theft of police data. The tech giant’s shares in Hong Kong fell 5.8% in late trading.
Bank and real estate stocks were hit Thursday as homebuyers boycott mortgage payments for unfinished property projects.
The South China Morning Post reported late Thursday that the boycott has grown, with buyers of more than 230 properties in 86 cities not making mortgage payments.
China Overseas Land and Investment shares lost 4.55% and Longfor’s stock dropped more than 6% on Friday.
China economic data
China’s GDP grew 0.4% in the second quarter, compared with 4.8% in the first quarter and the 1% that analysts in a Reuters poll predicted.
Retail sales topped expectations, however, rising 3.1% in June. A Reuters poll of analysts expected no growth compared with a year ago.
Mainland China markets dropped. The Shanghai Composite was down 1.64% to close at 3,228.06, while the Shenzhen Component declined 1.52% to 12,411.
The second-quarter report is China’s weakest GDP print since the first quarter of 2020 when the Covid pandemic first hit.
Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics at HSBC, said it’s not a big surprise given the severe disruptions in logistics and consumption during Covid lockdowns. Still, he said the weak GDP report suggests the recovery hasn’t been as strong as hoped.
“That means the economy didn’t really have tailwinds going, even into the third quarter,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Friday.
“Perhaps the message here is we need even more stimulus then, on top of what’s been announced in recent weeks and months,” he added.
Asia-Pacific markets mixed
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.68% to close at 6,605.6.
South Korea’s Kospi struggled for direction and closed 0.37% higher at 2,330.98, while the Kosdaq lost 0.48% to 762.39.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.54% higher at 26,788.47, while the Topix index closed slightly lower at 1,892.5.
Shares of Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing jumped 8.7% after the company posted a record quarterly profit after the close on Thursday
