Hong Kong stocks waver on manufacturing wobble as China vows more support for economy

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.5 per cent to 19,760.49 at 10am local time, adding to a 1.6 per cent loss in the first trading week of 2025. The Tech Index was little changed while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.5 per cent.

Bottled water producer Nongfu Spring slumped 4.3 per cent to HK$32.20 and brewer China Resources Beer slipped 2.2 per cent to HK$23.50 while food delivery group Meituan retreated 2.1 per cent to HK$150.40. Limiting losses, semiconductor producer SMIC jumped 2.4 per cent to HK$30.25 and e-commerce operator JD.com gained 2.2 per cent to HK$137.10.

The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI fell to 50.5 in December from 51.5 in November, trailing market consensus for an advance to 51.7, a report last week showed. It mirrored a slowdown in the official manufacturing index reported by the statistics bureau on December 31.

The price sub-indices of both PMI reports showed increased deflationary pressures in December, Goldman Sachs economists said in a report on Sunday.

China’s central bank on Saturday said it will ramp up support for the technology and consumption sectors to shore up the economy and reiterated its “moderately loose monetary policies” to lower interest rates and reserve requirement ratio for banks “at appropriate time” for a stable economic growth.