my NEWS Hong Kong stocks rise, extending last week’s gain, as Beijing signals support for property developers’ financing efforts Chinese regulators said they would support financing activities by property developers, adding to optimism about a stabilisation of economic growth Alibaba rebounded after Jack Ma’s office clarified his shares divestment plan The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.7 per cent to 17,751.63 as of 11.20am. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 2.1 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 per cent. Developer Longfor Group advanced 2.2 per cent to HK$13.06 and China Resources Land, one of its peers, gained 2.6 per cent to HK$29.75 after China’s financial regulators said that they would support property developers in receiving loans, issuing bonds and obtaining reasonable equity financing from capital markets. “Market risk appetite is expected to pick up as ramped-up policy support is set to improve the economic outlook,” said Zhang Xia, an analyst at China Merchants Securities. “Meanwhile, the external headwinds will wane as well, with the Federal Reserve expected to end its rate-hiking cycle.” The Hang Seng Index rallied 1.5 per cent last week as better-than-expected China economic data, a softening of US inflation and a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden lifted sentiment. The gains were tempered by Alibaba’s decision to scrap the spin-off of its cloud computing business and founder Jack Ma’s share disposal plan. UBS Group said in a report on Monday that the MSCI China Index, which tracks more than 700 companies listed at home and abroad, would gain 15 per cent next year on the back of 10 per cent earnings growth and the expansion of the price-to-earnings ratio, echoing a call by Goldman Sachs last week. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi gained 1 per cent to HK$16.10 before its earnings release later on Monday. Third-quarter net income probably jumped 120 per cent from a year earlier to 4.65 billion yuan (US$647 million), according to the consensus estimates of analysts tracked by Bloomberg. Some 28 companies that are components of the Hang Seng Index have released their third-quarter results, posting an average of 6.2 per cent year-on-year profit growth, according to Bloomberg data. That compares with a 7.7 per cent increase in first-half earnings. Other major Asian markets were mixed on Monday morning. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 per cent.
This content was originally published here.
