Hong Kong shares ended flat on Tuesday as another record close on Wall Street was offset by profit-taking following a rally in the previous session. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index edged up 9.07 points to 21,312.38 on turnover of HK$48.45 billion (US $6.25 billion). GCL-Poly rose 6.7 percent to HK$1.92, while Comtec Solar rallied 4.6 percent to HK$2.04, closing near a two-year high. Shares of gaming company NetDragon dropped 21 percent to HK$19.04 after the company said it will sell Chinese app store operator 91 Wireless to search engine giant Baidu.
Chinese shares closed up 0.31 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 6.33 points to 2,065.72 on turnover of 82.87 billion yuan ($13.5 billion). "We expect the market to consolidate in the near term after a slew of economic data confirmed that growth momentum remains weak," Capital Securities analyst Jacky Zhang told Dow Jones Newswires. Solar firms rose after the government set a larger target for expansion of China's solar power capacity.
TDG Holding rose by its 10 percent daily limit to 5.58 yuan and Lida Optical & Electronic also advanced 10 percent to 7.11 yuan. AVIC Heavy Machinery jumped 7.83 percent to 15.42 yuan and Sichuan Chengfa Aero Science & Technology rose 3.86 percent to 11.04 yuan. The official China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday in a front page editorial that quarterly or annual economic growth rates of below 7 percent would not affect China's long-term goal of structural adjustment.
This comes a day after data showed the world's second-largest economy grew 7.5 percent in the second quarter, a figure broadly in line with China's official annual growth target. The mainland's press also reported that the economy was likely to dominate the State Council's regular Wednesday meeting. Traders said there was some speculation that China's cabinet could unveil some policy announcements after that.
China Minsheng Bank fell 1.3 percent in Shanghai and 0.3 percent in Hong Kong. The country's second-largest lender China Construction Bank (CCB) shed 0.7 percent in Hong Kong. Chinese property and construction-related sectors were hurt by more reports in the mainland press about the possibility of the eastern city of Hangzhou starting a property tax trial, after Shanghai and Chongqing. China Vanke, the country's largest property developer by sales, tumbled 2.2 percent in Shenzhen.
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