Hong Kong shares fell 0.55 percent on Thursday, giving up early gains that sent the benchmark index to a six-month high, after disappointing earnings and faltering first-quarter Chinese economic growth prompted investors to lock in profits. News that China posted its weakest quarterly economic growth on record halted a three-day rally in stocks, even though the March data showed that China may already be on the road to recovery.
"I don't want to use the term recovery because the slowdown only really started in fourth quarter, but it does seem like China's economy is very close to the bottom," said Winson Fong, managing director at SG Asset Management. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 0.55 percent at 15,582.99 with CNOOC dropping 3.2 percent tracking lower crude oil prices. Turnover jumped to HK$74.6 billion from Wednesday's HK$66.3 billion.
The China Enterprises Index of top mainland companies was 1.76 percent lower at 9,141.23. Chinese counters, including banks and resources which have been big winners in the recent rally, dropped taking a cue from the slight pullback on the Shanghai Composite Index. Non-life insurer PICC P&C plunged 9.73 percent to HK$4.74 after disappointing investors with its forecast-lagging 2008 earnings.
Earnings at PICC dropped 98 percent in 2008 on higher-than-expected underwriting losses and lower-than-expected investment income. Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock to neutral from outperform and reduced its target price on the stock to HK$4.85 from HK$5.
The market was poised to extend gains next week with technicals pointing to a further upside for the Hang Seng Index, said analysts, betting that the main index would rise above 16,000 points in the near-term.
Speculation has been rife in recent days that Beijing might announce a new spending package focused on boosting consumption to follow up the 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion), two-year stimulus plan it announced last November. "The GDP numbers can't harm the market rally too much; firstly because it is more or less in line with expectations and secondly because there is a positive spin to it where investors think that data will prompt China to come out with fresh stimulus measures," said Linus Yip, strategist with First Shanghai Securities.
China came in second after India in an ING investor sentiment survey, with a majority of investors weighing in on the current global economic situation as a slowdown. But Hong Kong finished close to the bottom of the heap along with Australia and Japan.
China Eastern Airlines was down 5.63 percent at HK$1.34 after reporting a record loss of 15.3 billion yuan ($2.24 billion) for 2008, far underperforming analyst expectations, mostly owing to a surge in operating costs, including fuel costs.
Analysts said there was little likelihood of a turnaround at China Eastern in 2009, despite a pick-up in air traffic. Dodging the downdraft, China Huiyuan Juice jumped 7.05 percent on news it was being courted by more companies following Coca-Cola's failed attempt to buy China's top juice maker.
Huiyuan still had high hopes of finding a strong partner after Beijing rejected Coca-Cola's $2.5 billion acquisition bid under an anti-monopoly law enacted last year, its chairman Zhu Xinli was reported as saying by the China Securities Journal. The stock has lost more than half of its market value since the deal was scuttled nearly a month ago.