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JD.com, Xiaomi and AIA lead rebound in Hong Kong stocks; Fed clears rate-cut doubts
Hong Kong stocks snapped a two-day losing streak, with JD.com leading a tech rebound after a sell-off, while Xiaomi and AIA jumped after posting stellar earnings.
The Hang Seng Index added 0.4 per cent to 17,462.74 as of 10am local time. The Tech Index jumped 0.9 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.
JD.com rallied 2.5 per cent to HK$105 to recoup some of the losses on Wednesday triggered by Walmart’s stake sale plan. Alibaba gained 0.6 per cent to HK$80.45 and Tencent added 0.7 per cent to HK$374.20.
Xiaomi jumped 6.2 per cent to HK$18.60, the biggest winner among the 82 blue chip index members, after it reported a 32 per cent jump in second-quarter revenue to 88.9 billion yuan (US$12.4 billion) on strong smartphone sales and electric vehicle deliveries. Insurer AIA advanced 2.4 per cent to HK$52.65 after its first-half profit surged 53 per cent amid mainlanders’ policy-buying spree.
Sentiment got a further boost after the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve cleared doubts about a rate cut next month. The “vast majority” of US central bank officials said it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting if the economic data continued to come in about as expected, according to the minutes of the Fed’s July 30-31 meeting.
Limiting gains, Henderson Land lost as much as 1.6 per cent to HK$21.30 after earnings halved amid a downbeat Hong Kong property and retail markets.
Other key Asian markets advanced on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1 per cent, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 per cent.
