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Hong Kong stocks waver amid slowdown in China’s consumption, property investment
Hong Kong stocks fluctuated in early trading as investors digested China’s latest economic data, which showed a marked slowdown in consumption growth and property investment.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.2 per cent to 19,939 at 10.14am local time on Monday. The Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.4 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index fell 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1 per cent.
Retail sales rose 3 per cent in November from a year earlier, missing analysts’ estimate of 5.3 per cent growth and down from the 4.8 per cent growth in October, according to official data released on Monday. Property investment fell 10.4 per cent from January to November, compared with the 10.3 per cent fall in the first 10 months of the year.
New-home prices, however, fell at the slowest pace in 17 months, after Chinese authorities launched a slew of easing measures to rescue the crisis-hit property sector.
Elsewhere, major Asia-Pacific markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.1 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi was little changed.
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