Staff of Reuters HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used -3.6 percent, Shanghai->HK daily quota used -1 percent. The FTSE China A50 is down 1.4%. Reuters, June 29 – Investors are walking cautiously ahead of a U.S. jobs report, thus Hong Kong stocks closed lower on Tuesday. Energy firms sank after a drop in oil prices, and investors are treading cautiously ahead of a U.S. jobs report. * The Hang Seng index dropped 0.9 percent to 28,994.10 points, while the China Enterprises Index dropped 1.0 percent to 10,757.30. * Haidilao International Holding Ltd was the highest gainer on the Hang Seng, up 8.69 percent, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp was the largest loser, down 4.59 percent. * On the basis of lower oil prices, the Hang Seng energy index fell the most, shedding 2.9 percent. * PetrolChina, China’s state-owned oil company, fell 4.2 percent, while CNOOC fell 2.9 percent. * Oil prices fell for a second day on Tuesday as outbreaks of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant Delta spurred fresh mobility restrictions around the world, raising concerns about slower fuel demand growth. * Worries that additional coronavirus outbreaks in Asia could derail the recovery added to the pressure, even as the Federal Reserve considers a faster exit from accommodative policies due to strong momentum in the US. * A carefully awaited U.S. jobs data for June will be released on Friday, which might impact the Fed’s policy outlook and push interest rate hike forecasts forward. * The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.92 percent to 3,573.18 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index fell 1.17 percent. ** MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was down 0.5 percent in the region, while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.81 percent. (Shanghai Newsroom contributed reporting; Uttaresh.V edited the piece.) Continue reading
