Shanghai and Hong Kong stocks rose on Thursday, led by gains in financials and state-owned enterprises after the May Day holiday, while shares traded in Shenzhen were down.
** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index was little
changed, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8%.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.3%,
while the China Enterprises Index added 2.0%.
** Financial stocks along with state-owned enterprises
(SOEs) surged in the session.
** Bank of China Ltd , Bank of Communications Co
Ltd , and China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd soared 7.4%, 6.3%, and 9.2%, respectively.
** Hang Seng Mainland Banks Index gained 4.8%, with
Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd up 7.7%.
** SinoSteel Engineering & Technology Co Ltd and
China Science Publishing & Media Ltd rose to a
maximum 10% each.
** Despite news of China's tourism rebounding to pre-COVID
levels during the May Day holiday with the number of domestic
trips rising by more than two-thirds from a year earlier, CSI
tourism shares were down 4.5%.
** Meanwhile, China's factory activity unexpectedly dipped
in April, a private sector survey showed on Thursday, due to
softer domestic demand, and suggesting the manufacturing sector
is losing momentum amid a bumpy post-pandemic recovery.
** "The headline Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers'
Index fell to 49.5 in April from 50.0 in March, suggesting a
modest decline in activity in the manufacturing sector on the
back of subdued demand," analysts at Goldman Sachs said.
** The U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) signal of a potential
pause in its tightening cycle also helped lift sentiment in the
Hong Kong market, analysts said.
** Following the Fed, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 25 basis points to 5.50%, its highest since January 2008.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Varun H K and Sohini Goswami)
