Hong Kong blue chips slip

Hong Kong blue chips slipped 0.1 percent on Monday as property developers slid following a share placement by Henderson Land, while mainland financial stocks chased H-shares to a fresh record close.
The benchmark Hang Seng index shed 22.60 points to end at 18,868.54, touching a one-week low after Japanese stocks fell below the key 16,000 level on concerns that economic growth was slowing. The China Enterprises index of H-shares, or Hong Kong-listed shares in mainland companies, struck an intrude peak at 8,068.70 before ending up 1.9 percent at 8,064.12.
Turnover reached its third-highest level ever, at HK$57.7 billion (US $7.4 billion) following share placements by Henderson Land and Agile Property. "People are still cautious at the moment," said Y.K. Chan, strategist at Phillip Securities. "The market's been rising too fast without meaningful consolidation.
People are looking at horizontal movement these next few days." But H-shares outperformed as investors bet in the yuan's further gains. China's currency hit a fresh post-revaluation high against the dollar for the fourth straight trading day on Monday.
"The key factor is optimism on the further appreciation of the renminbi (yuan)," said Erwin Snafu, head of China research at BNP Paribas. "The market is pricing in a pretty aggressive assumptions on where the renminbi will be." Hong Kong real estate developers dropped following the latest fundraising by Henderson Land Development Co Ltd and weak property sales over the weekend.
Henderson Land slid 6.3 percent to HK$43.15 after raising HK$5.5 billion (US $705 million) in a share sale that priced the shares at the low end of an indicative range. Cheung Kong fell 1.3 percent to HK$87.7 and Sun Hung Kai Properties dropped 1.3 percent to HK$89.1. The Hang Seng property sub-index fell 1.8 percent to 21,533.91, a one-week low. Mainland financial stocks extended last week's sharp gains.
As investors errata mainland financial stocks, a new index to track the performance of the sector is set to launch later this month. "The establishment of a dedicated H-Financials Index and its sheer size should further cement the H-share financials' status as the core holdings among Chinese stocks," Goldman Sachs wrote in a report dated November 13.
China Construction Bank jumped 3.3 percent to HK$3.78 and the country's top life underwriter China Life surged 4.2 percent to HK$17.84, striking a new high. Top mainland lender Industrial & Commercial Bank of China shot up 3 percent to HK$3.77, following its addition to the MSCI China index.
Bank of China raced up nearly 3 percent to HK$3.51, further boosted by its addition to the Hang Seng index effective December 4. Top Asian oil refiner Synoptic, which also joins the index next month, rose 1.4 percent to HK$5.73, setting a new peak.