Hong Kong shares erased early gains to finish flat, with investors shrugging off better-than-expected China industrial data that only partly alleviates concerns about slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Activity in China’s factory sector edged up to a four-month high in February, but export orders shrank at their fastest rate in 20 months, Wednesday’s flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed.
And on Wednesday, the Hong Kong government unveiled HK$34 billion ($4.4 billion) worth of sweeteners in its budget to prop up growth. The city’s economy grew 2.3 per cent last year compared with a 2.9 per cent expansion in 2013 and the government forecast growth of 1 per cent to 3 per cent this year.
Shares of casino operators dived, with Galaxy Entertainment and Sands China both dropping more than 5 per cent.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.1 per cent to 24,778.28, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.2 per cent to 12,064.80 points.
Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong’s main board were Ping Shan Tea Group Ltd, up 3.5 per cent at HK$0.06; ICBC, down 0.7 per cent at HK$5.66; and CCB, down 0.5 per cent at HK$6.42.
Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.4 billion shares.