Hong Kong stocks extended a world-beating rally as CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. climbed after earnings beat estimates and as investors shrugged off weaker-than-estimated Chinese economic data.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.8 percent at 10:15 a.m. CK Hutchison headed for its highest close since April, while Sands China Ltd. was poised for its biggest weekly gain since January. led gains by energy companies since mid-July after U.S. oil surged. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent in lackluster trading.
The Hang Seng Index has surged 14 percent in the past three months, the biggest advance among major global benchmark gauges, amid an improving interest-rate outlook and signs of stability in the city’s property market. China’s recent economic stabilization faltered in July as factory output, retail sales and investment all slowed.
“Though the economic data are weak, they are still within an acceptable range to investors,” said Wang Zheng, the Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co. “The rally in the Hong Kong has fundamental support as earnings from its flagship companies are pretty strong.”
Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison advanced 1.6 percent. The company said profit, excluding earnings from discontinued operations, rose 1.9 percent to HK$15.2 billion ($2 billion) during the first six months of 2016, compared with HK$14.9 billion a year earlier. The results beat the HK$14.8 billion median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts.
Industrial production rose 6 percent from a year earlier in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. Retail sales climbed 10.2 percent last month, while fixed-asset investment increased 8.1 percent in the first seven months of the year. All three reading missed economists estimates.
Data released earlier this week showed the nation’s factory-gate deflation eased for a seventh straight month, signaling improving conditions for the nation’s manufacturers.
By: Bloomberg News.
Contributing: Shidong Zhang.
Photo: South China Morning Post.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, FLAGSHIP RECORDS.
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