Fears of an increasingly tough climate for Chinese exporters and more malaise in the property market sent Hong Kong shares trading lower Wednesday. After trying to rise higher in the morning, the Hang Seng Index finished Wednesday 0.8% down at 17,195.84.
China SCE Group Holdings Ltd. became the latest in a line of Chinese property developers to default on its debt Wednesday, after the company said that it could not meet interest and principal payments for up to $1.8 billion in senior offshore notes.
3D Medicines Inc. was trading 7.2% higher in the Hong Kong Wednesday morning session at HK$5.53 after the company announced that it is buying back up to 10% of its own stock.
Shares of Hong Kong property developer China Evergrande Group Limited (OTC: EGRNF) surged after it resumed trading in Hong Kong Tuesday morning, buoyed by speculative bets in an otherwise down market.
Amid an economic climate of high interest rates in the US and a slumber among China stocks led by a downturn in the property market, Japan’s economy lies in stark contrast to the antipathy that investors are feeling elsewhere in the world right now.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) presented a tentative counter-punch to the heavy selling this week in Hong Kong prompted by a rout among property and consumer stocks.