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Yujing Liu

Deb Price

Srinivasan Iyer

Good day traders,
Hong Kong and China markets struggled for direction today and just about managed to finish in positive territory.
Have a look below to see how the day's trading unfolded.    
If you have any feedback, please send them to deb.price@scmp.com .
-- Yujing Liu, Deb Price and Srinivasan Iyer in Hong Kong


Has China’s stock market gone from ‘uninvestable’ to ‘irresistible’?

China stocks recover from early losses on cautious PBOC policy tone

Hong Kong stocks rise as Wall Street rally boosts confidence in earnings growth

Chinese ETFs investing in US stocks cap subscriptions as they run out of quotas

Stocks

Stocks Blog: Disappointing blue chip earnings cap gains in Hong Kong  

 An electronic stock board at a securities brokerage house in Beijing. Photo: EPA/EFE

An investor walks past a screen showing stock market figures at a securities company in Hangzhou in China's Zhejiang province on June 19, 2018. Photo: AFP

Business

Markets

Trump says 'I'm not ready to make a deal with China'
Xiaomi (1810 HK) sheds nearly 5 per cent after Q2 net profit falls 87 per cent


Trump says 'I'm not ready to make a deal with China'


China stock market

Hong Kong stock exchange

Live

Mistakes are painful, for sure, says Avery Cheung. But if you think of trading over your lifetime, those individual mistakes will be just a small part of your trading career. 
“Looking forward is the key to my investment philosophy. I am going to roll my snowball with over tens of thousands of trades instead of relying on only one or two trades in my life. In that sense, winning, losing or missing some individual plays will not bother me emotionally so much. They instead provide me with the lessons of how to win the next trade by a better investing system,” says Cheung, 23, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree of risk management from the University of Hong Kong in 2018.
He is now living his dream working as an analyst at a hedge fund.
He started investing as a freshman at Hong Kong University. Beaten down by a challenging stretch for the market, he stopped trading for awhile. Then he met a fund manager who gave him a pep talk that persuaded him to give it another shot.
Although past trends and market sentiment can be helpful to study, Cheung thinks it’s important to be an independent thinker in the world of investment. 
“You have to do your homework through research to avoid getting into a trade with unfavourable risk-reward condition,” he says.
Cheung recalls missing out on the rise of stocks with poor fundamentals earlier this year. 
“One of the lessons (was) a miss of the big uptrend in the beginning of the year. I kept shorting (betting a stock will fall) the stocks with poor fundamentals and neglected the fact that the market had discounted their bad expectation on the price already. (Suddenly), lots of stocks with poor fundamentals rebounded vigorously,” he recalls.

-- Joy Pamnani 
Young Investors is a series appearing occasionally in the Stocks Blog in which young Hong Kong traders share what they’ve learned in their rookie days — the good, the bad and the ugly.


Young Investors: Think of trading like rolling up a big snowball, advises Avery Cheung

Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK), the world’s fourth largest smartphone supplier, said net profit for the June quarter fell to 2 billion yuan (US$284 million), down from 14.6 billion yuan a year earlier.
Total revenue grew 15 per cent to 51.9 billion yuan, up from 45.2 billion yuan a year ago, driven by an increase in the average selling price of the company’s smartphones.
Xiaomi saw a 19 per cent drop in shipments last quarter in China, which was the biggest decline among the country’s major handset vendors last quarter. Globally it shipped 32.1 million smartphones.
Global smartphone shipments declined 2.3 per cent last quarter to 333.2 million units, but Huawei still managed to increase its market share to 17.6 per cent on shipments of 58.7 million units, according to IDC.
Shares of Xiaomi closed up 3.2 per cent at HK$9.43 on Tuesday.
Read full story here
-- Georgina Lee


Xiaomi profit plunges 87 per cent amid declining global smartphone sales

An iconic Beijing office tower in the shape of a dragon’s head has been sold for a discount during an online auction, as bankers and creditors succeeded on their third attempt to dispose off the asset – Pangu Plaza Tower 5 –  to recover some of the 3 billion yuan (US$425 million) owed by the fugitive Guo Wengui.
The tower, which houses IBM China’s office, was sold for 5.187 billion yuan during a 24-hour auction on Taobao, the country’s largest e-commerce platform.
The buyer is a subsidiary of Hong Kong and Shanghai (601992 CH) listed BBMG (2009 HK), a state-owned enterprise. BBMG has China’s biggest cement business in addition to its property development business. Its bond prospectus shows the company had 51.1 billion yuan in total liabilities as of early August.
The building was seized from Guo in 2014 after he fled China for the United States to escape a corruption investigation, after which it was put on the auction block for a starting bid of 5.182 billion yuan and valued by Taobao at 7.92 billion, about half the average price of comparable grade A office blocks in the neighbourhood.
BBMG closed down 0.5 per cent at HK$2.19 Tuesday, while in Shanghai it closed up 0.6 per cent at 3.33 yuan.
Read full story here
-- Georgina Lee


State-owned cement giant buys iconic Beijing office tower at a bargain

Here's what we are watching this morning:
US overnight markets/ What futures foretell
--The S&P 500 fell 0.79 per  cent, the Nasdaq dropped 0.68 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.66 per cent
-- Hong Kong futures dropped 0.5 per cent to 26,097, while the China A50 futures declined 0.6 per cent
IPO debuts: None to note
Economic statistics/Central Bank action: Nothing major scheduled
Corporate events:
Earnings: Bank of East Asia (23 HK); BYD (1211 HK); CGN Power (1816 HK); Focus Media (002027 CH); Geely Auto (175 HK); Henderson Land (12 HK); Iflytek (002230 CH); Sunac China (1918 HK)
Good reads: Xiaomi (1810 HK) reported an 87 per cent drop in net profit in the quarter ended June 30, as the global smartphone market continued to slow down, tech reporter Li Tao writes. Potential homebuyers in China are waiting on the sidelines hoping for better deals, sending contracted sales plummeting for China’s top builders reports Pearl Liu.


Morning guidance 

Kingsoft (3888 HK)  said its net loss for the six months ending June totalled 1.75 billion yuan, contrasting with a net profit of 12.8 million yuan a year ago. This came despite revenue increasing 38 per cent to 3.6 billion yuan, from 2.61 billion yuan.
The Beijing-based software and internet service company, which offers online games, cloud services and office software, said the cost of its revenues rose 68 per cent for the six months, biting into its profit.
Online games, which accounted for about a third of its revenue, shrank 3.7 per cent to 1.17 billion yuan, and were the only business segment whose revenue dropped. Cloud services and office software accounted for 49 per cent and 19 per cent of its total revenue for the six months.
Chairman Jun Lei said in a press release after the market closed that the company has set targets for the second half of 2019. It expects a solid organic revenue growth from its Kingsoft Cloud and office software products, and the launch of new mobile games.
-- Georgina Lee


Software and online game operator Kingsoft plunges into H1 loss

China Singyes Solar Technologies (750 HK) said as a result of the wind up petition filed by Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong branch, it wants to remind its shareholders and potential investors that if the company is ultimately wound up, any transfer of shares will be void on and after the commencement date of winding up, dated August 6, unless a validation order is obtained from the high court.
The Zhuhai-based firm, controlled by mainland businessman Liu Hongwei, first disclosed the wind up petition filed in the Hong Kong High Court earlier this month. The petition, scheduled for an October 2 hearing, relates to an alleged debt of US$6.27 million.
“The alleged debt stated in the petition is disputed and the company will vigorously oppose the petition ... and intend to seek a dismissal of the petition,” it said in a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday night.
China Singyes Solar Tech closed down 2.74 per cent at 71 HK cents on Tuesday.
-- Georgina Lee


China Singyes Solar Tech warns of wind up petition risk

US President Donald Trump overnight said he expects a trade deal will be worked out with China, but he's in no rush.
"They want to make a deal with us. But I can tell you, I'm not ready to make a deal. Unless they're going to make the right kind of a deal."
Trump said a trade deal will come.
"Something will happen. Maybe soon, or maybe a little bit later. But China very much wants to make a deal," he told reporters.
-- Deb Price


Trump says 'not ready to make a deal' with China -- yet

It looks like a challenging opening for traders, in both mainland and Hong Kong markets.
The Hang Seng Index is down 0.56 per cent, at 26,085.33, and the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.2 per cent at 2,874.
-- Deb Price


Hong Kong, China shares open down

The wildly popular hotpot chain Haidilao International Holding (6862 HK) looks even more palatable after announcing its first-half results.
Haidilao rose 3.8 per cent to HK$33.05 in early trading, after it posted last night a 41 per cent year on year jump in net profit for the first half to 911 million yuan (US$129 million). Revenue surged 59 per cent to 11.7 billion yuan.
Chinese investment bank CICC lifted its 12-month target price for the stock by 11 per cent to HK$39.
Shares of Haidilao have climbed by 86 per cent since it was listed in September last year.
-- Yujing Liu


Haidilao serves up palatable first-half earnings

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi (1810 HK) is trading down 1.7 per cent to HK$9.27 after reporting weak results.
It said its second quarter profits were down 87 per cent, amid the global smartphone market slowdown. Its net profit fell to 2 billion yuan (US$284 million), down from 14.6 billion yuan a year earlier.
Its total revenue grew 15 per cent to 51.9 billion yuan. That was up from 45.2 billion yuan a year ago, and pushed up by an increase in the average selling price of its smartphones.
Read full story here.


Xiaomi falls on weak results

Two Chinese pharmaceutical stocks surged after their drugs were added to a new list of medicine covered by the national health insurance.
Betta Pharmaceuticals (300558 SZ), a developer of innovative cancer drugs, rose 2.9 per cent to 50.4 yuan in the latest trading. The company’s original treatment for lung cancer made into the updated list, and it’s not immediately clear how much impact this will have on its operations, Betta said in a stock exchange filing today.
Chongqing Pharscin Pharmaceutical (002907 SZ) also gained 3.3 per cent, as one of its processed traditional Chinese medicine was added to the list.
-- Yujing Liu


Drug makers rise on updated coverage of national health insurance

The Hang Seng Index is picking up.
Health care and consumer staples stocks are up, but utilities are a drag.
China Resources Land (1109 HK) gained 2.23 per cent to HK$32.15, while Sino Biopharmaceutical (1177 HK) jumped 2.2 per cent to HK$10.32. Want Want China Holdings (151 HK) also got off to a fast start, trading up 2 per cent at HK$6.43.
Hong Kong and China Gas (3 HK) was leading losses, down 3.6 per cent at HK$16.48. It reported weaker than expected first half results on Tuesday, with its net income at HK$3.89 billion and revenue at HK$20.35 billion. Daiwai cut it to hold from outperform, and lowered its target price to HK$17.90 from HK$18.50.
Xiaomi (1810 HK), which reported poor results, has fallen further in morning trading. It is trading down 3.8 percent to HK$9.07.
The Hang Seng is trading up a teensy bit, by 0.01 per cent to 26,232.94, after starting off in the hole.
-- Deb Price


Hang Seng trying to perk up

Words of support for vocational education from China’s top leader could provide new strength to private school operators listed in Hong Kong.
Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that fostering more talent through vocational schools is critical to the country’s economy, during a visit to a school in the northwestern city of Zhangye, according to a report by the official news agency Xinhua.
The key to help the northwestern region improve its economy, which is lagging behind other parts of the country, is to develop vocational education, Xi said.
A handful of Hong Kong-listed school operators rose in the latest trading. China Education Group Holdings (0839 HK), which owns three vocational schools, gained 4.3 per cent to HK$11.08. Hope Education Group (1765 HK), which owns six such schools, added 2.6 per cent to HK$1.17.
-- Yujing Liu


Xi comments on vocational schools boost education stocks

Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) is on its way to ending its eighth consecutive day above 1,000 yuan.
The world's most valuable liquor maker became the first Chinese company to close above 1,000 yuan on July 1. But it only could hold on at that level for two consecutive days.
It crossed back into the milestone area on August 12, when it closed at 1,018.63 yuan. It's had only one day of losses since then, a small 0.07 per cent on August 13, but it still ended above 1,000 yuan.
Of the 42 analysts covering it, 40 call it a buy, one a hold and one a sell, according to Bloomberg data. Their consensus is that it will rise to 1,104 yuan in the next 12 months.
However, one analyst is even more bullish. Fusheng Huang at Pacific Securities has maintained a target price of 1,240 yuan on the stock since June 29.
It is trading today up 0.07 per cent at 1,070.72 yuan.
 

-- Deb Price


Kweichow Moutai on a high

Global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs will raise its stake in its Chinese securities joint venture -- Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities -- to 51 per cent, Chinese media reported, citing a company spokesperson.
Securities brokerage Shanghai Chinafortune (600621 SH), which owns a majority stake in a joint venture set up with Morgan Stanley, rose 3.3 per cent to 13.3 yuan in the latest trading, as investors speculated on a similar move by the investment bank.
Chinese regulators lifted a cap on foreign financial firms’ stake in their Chinese joint ventures in April last year, to allow overseas players to control such ventures. 
-- Yujing Liu


Brokerage with Morgan Stanley partnership rises on foreign ownership speculation

Real estate is helping the Shanghai Composite Index today.
Four companies have hit or nearly hit the 10 per cent upside limit. They include Shanghai Shibei Hi-Tech (600604 CH), a Shanghai-based real estate business operator, which shot up to 9.52 yuan.
Getein Biotech (603387 CH) has been the top loser in early trading, down 9.58 per cent to 25.58 yuan. The company makes a range of drugs to combat inflammation, heart disease and diabetes.
The Shanghai Composite has been see-sawing in morning trading. It was last up 0.05 per cent, at 2,881.
-- Deb Price


Real estate helping Shanghai Composite

Challenges aren't over for Hong Kong and China Gas (3 HK), says Bloomberg Intelligence.
In a new note, BI analysts write that its profit growth may slow in the second half of the year as US-China trade tensions hurt industrial demand.
Meanwhile, also today, Goldman Sachs reiterated its neutral rating on the stock, but lowered its target price to HK$15.95 from HK$17.12.
Of analysts covering the stock and tracked by Bloomberg, one rates it a buy, three a hold and seven a sell. Their consensus target price is HK$14.35.
-- Deb Price


Challenges ahead for Hong Kong and China Gas

The Hang Seng Index is down about 2.7 per cent since the first major demonstration of an estimated 2 million people in Hong Kong on June 9. 
Among those especially hard hit by protests over the past two months have been commercial property operators, as foot traffic has fallen off at malls and restaurants. 
The protests show no end in sight. They of course aren't the only challenge for Hong Kong-listed companies, which have also been weighed down by the year-long US-China trade war and economic slowdown in the city and in the mainland.  
While there have been reports of military vehicles gathering in Shenzhen Bay, near Hong Kong, most analysts do not expect China to send in troops to stop the demonstrations.
That unexpected scenario would send the Hang Seng Index down by "at least" half,  says Alan Li, portfolio manager at Atta Capital. "People would have no hesitation to draw their money out from Hong Kong," Li said.  
 

-- Deb Price 
 


Hang Seng has fallen 2.7 per cent since protests began 

Bank of East Asia (23 HK) warned today that civil unrest in Hong Kong over the past two months, combined with an escalation of the US-China trade war, is beginning to weigh on the city’s economy.
The warning came as Hong Kong’s largest independent and locally headquartered bank said during the market lunch break that its first-half profit fell by nearly 75 per cent.
The lender warned in June that it expected a downgrade of four “legacy” commercial loan assets in mainland China because of worsening market conditions.
The bank said that its net charge for impairment losses rose to HK$5.06 billion in the first half largely due to downgrades of four loans with a nominal value of HK$6.2 billion. That compared with a charge for impairment losses of HK$282 million in the prior year period.
It shares fell 0.9 per cent to HK$21. 
-- Chad Bray 


Bank of East Asia says first-half profit drops by nearly 75 per cent

Xiaomi (1810 HK) has fallen 5.7 per cent to HK$8.89, after posting dismal results showing its second-quarter profits were down 87 per cent amid the global smartphone market slowdown.
 

-- Deb Price


Xiaomi falls nearly 6 per cent over dismal results

The Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite Index have been drifting today, with no clear drivers out of Washington or Beijing.
"The market has no clear direction after a significant rebound on Monday, and decreasing turnover affirms that. The Hang Seng is likely back to go back to a boring status until some progress is seen in the trade war negotiation or there is a further rate cut by (the US Federal Reserve).
On the mainland, he said traders are waiting for further easing or a rate cut by the People's Bank of China.
The Hang Seng is trading flat, at 26,230.54, while the Shanghai Composite is up a teensy amount, by 0.08 per cent to 2,882.
-- Deb Price


Traders hungry for market drivers, says Alan Li of Atta Capital

Investors are gobbling down the shares of hotpot chain Haidilao International Holding (6862 HK), sending them to a historical high.
Haidilao widened its gains to as much as 11 per cent in afternoon trading, surging to an all-time intraday high of HK$35.3.
Yihai International Holding (1579 HK), which supplies condiments to Haidilao, also climbed 4.4 per cent to HK$48.35.
Haidilao reported on Tuesday that its net profit surged by 41 per cent in the first half from the same period last year.
 

-- Yujing Liu


Hungry investors send Haidilao shares to an all-time high  

Kingsoft (3888 HK)  is trading down 7 per cent to HK$14.14 after reporting a big first-half loss.
The Beijing-based software and internet service company, which offers online games, cloud services and office software, reported that its net loss for the six months ending June totalled 1.75 billion yuan. A year ago in the same period, it posted a net profit of 12.8 million yuan.
-- Deb Price


Kingsoft suffers big fall on first-half loss

Sentiment in Hong Kong markets isn’t being determined by the protests, but by global volatility and the US-China trade war, according to Iris Pang, Greater China economist for ING Bank.
“It is not about the protests, it is about the world market being very volatile,” said Pang. “For the Hong Kong economy as a whole, I don’t think it is affected [by the protests]. It is more the trade war. Sentiment from that will affect the Hang Seng a lot because there are a lot of mainland companies listed on the Hang Seng Index. At the bottom of my list is protests.”
Meanwhile, property prices are affected more by how the Hang Seng Index is performing, than any escalation of protests.
“The new sites are raising prices, rather than cutting, so I don’t think protests actually have [had any] impact on the property sector,” she said. “Until the moment that unemployment rate continuously goes higher and affects repayment rate of mortgages, then property prices will fall. But we are a while from that”.
Pang expects the protests to continue, perhaps more frequently but less violently.
One sector that could lose out is retail. “Shops cannot serve customers, even if [the protests are] not violent. I would say let’s wait [to invest]. I don’t think it is the best moment to jump in,” she said.
Any winners would be only small shops that aren’t listed, said Pang, like the ones selling helmets, which have become a staple in protester gear.
-- Louise Moon


Trade war, not protests that's affecting Hong Kong market, says Iris Pang of ING Bank

Geely Auto (175 HK) is trading down 0.2 per cent at HK$11.08 after reporting its profit fell 40 per cent to 4 billion yuan in the first half, while revenue was down 11 per cent to 47.55 billion yuan in the same period.
In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, Geely said its performance was "below management's expectations".
It said its total sales in the first six months of the year in the China market fell 19 per cent year on year to 613,061 units. That is at a time when overall passenger vehicle sales in China fell 21.7 per cent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
It blamed weak demand and fierce competition, as well as the US-China trade war and the rush by local governments to implement new emissions standards in major cities.
But the Chinese car maker reported that exports grew solidly, jumping 344 per cent year on year to 38,619 units.
Diluted earnings per share were down 40 per cent to 43.92 RMB cents.
-- Deb Price


Geely trading down after reporting profits fell 40 per cent in H1

Shares of Hong Kong and China Gas (3 HK), the city's dominant piped-gas provider, plunged as much as 5.8 per cent after posting an 18.8 per cent fall in net profit year on year to HK$3.89 billion for the year's first half.
Excluding one-off items, recurring net profit fell 5 per cent to HK$3.75 billion, as higher mainland natural gas distribution profit could not offset lower earnings from its Hong Kong gas business and new energy ventures, Citi's head of Asia utilities research Pierre Lau said in a note today.
He said the results were disappointing, citing lower profit margin in the mainland because of the delayed retail gas price increase, lower profit in new energy business stemming from the commodity price slump, and lower Hong Kong sales.
The latest forecast of 1 per cent decline in Hong Kong gas sales contrasted with a guidance given to analysts of a 1 per cent increase by the management back in March when it announced its 2018 results.
Lau cut his estimates on the firm's net profit by between 9.7 per cent and 11.4 per cent for the three years to 2021.
The analyst has a "sell" rating on the stock with a target price of HK$13.5, citing its expensive valuation of 31.6 times its estimated earnings per share in 2020, and a share price 4.4 times its book value.
The stock was trading down 5.4 per cent at HK$16.18.
-- Eric Ng


Hong Kong and China Gas slumps after reporting disappointing first-half profit

Louis Tse Ming-kwong does not see any particular sector likely to outperform in the near future. Instead, the managing director of VC Asset Management advises investors pick dividend-paying blue chips as the Hang Seng Index and Shanghai Composite continue to move sideways after a "meaningful" rebound.
"We are looking at individual stocks, not at any sector as a whole. Reasonable P/E [price-to-earnings ratio] and stocks that give a historical yield of 5 per cent or more," said Tse.
Betting on certain sectors would be difficult as the market has been very selective, responding mostly to individual company's half-year earnings.
Investors in mainland China have already been following the same strategy, he said. "We saw Hong Kong banks get quite a bit of buying from the North through stock connect last Friday. They're looking for blue chips with quite good yield."
But even as he believes that to be the safe play in these trying times, Tse is nevertheless pinning his hopes on Hansoh Pharmaceutical (3692 HK), a company which debuted on June 14 and has no history of declared dividends.
It currently has a market capitalisation of HK$134.84 billion (US$17.19 billion), more than twice the size of some constituent stocks on the Hang Seng Index.
The company would be added to the Hang Seng Composite LargeCap & MidCap Index on September 9.
Tse said Hansoh Pharmaceutical was likely to be included in the main index in the future. When that happens, its share price will benefit from institutional buying, he added.
"It's only a matter of time," said Tse.
-- Daryl Choo


Blue chips are a safe bet as markets move sideways, says investor 

Information technology and real estate stocks helped the Shanghai Composite Index limp across the day's finish line with skimpy gains.
Eleven stocks, representing a range of sectors, ended the day at or near the upside 10 per cent limit. They included Shanghai Shibei Hi-Tech (600604 CH), a real estate business operator based in Shanghai, Shanghai Shenda (600626 CH), a textile importer and exporter, and Dynagreen Environmental Protection Group (601330 CH), which is based in Shenzhen and collects and incinerates garbage.
Meanwhile, Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) slipped 0.37 per cent to 1,066 yuan. The world's largest liquor maker has now closed above 1,000 yuan for eight consecutive trading days.
It became the first Chinese company to sail across that threshold on July 1, and it stayed there the following day. But then it had a streak where it couldn't get back to that level. The stock is highly popular with northbound traders on the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect.
The Shanghai benchmark closed up 0.01 per cent at 2,880.33.
-- Deb Price


Shanghai posts skimpy gain

AAG Energy (2686 HK), mainland China's largest non-state controlled producer of natural gas, surged as much as 13.4 per cent after it posted a 64.6 per cent year on year jump in net profit to 338.6 million yuan for the year's first half.  
Revenue rose 37.8 per cent to 764 million yuan, thanks to an 18.9 per cent rise in production from its gas fields in Shanxi province, and a 17.7 per cent increase in the average gas selling price of its mainstay Panzhuang field.
The firm said in its results filing late on Tuesday that the field's output in the second half is expected to exceed the 416 million cubic metres achieved in the first half. Back in March when it announced its 2018 results, it had set a 2019 full-year target for the field of 810 million cubic metres. Its other field, Mabi, achieved 37.6 million cubic metres in the first half, and has a full-year target of 71 million cubic metres. The stock is trading at 9.3 times its 2018 earnings per share with a dividend yield of 6.75 per cent.
One analyst had earlier forecast its 2019 net profit at 482 million yuan and 668.5 million yuan for 2020, according to Bloomberg.
The stock was 8.7 per cent higher at HK$1.38 in late trading.
-- Eric Ng


Positive earnings propel AAC Energy shares  

The Hang Seng managed to eke out a small gain on a day, weighed down by a number of poor earnings by big name stocks including Chinese smartphone maker Xioami (1810 HK) and Hong Kong and China Gas (3 HK).
The city's dominant piped-gas provider closed down 5.3 per cent at HK$16.20, making it the top loser on the benchmark. It posted an 18.8 per cent fall in net profit year on year to HK$3.89 billion for the year's first half.
Xiaomi closed down about 5 per cent at HK$8.96, after reporting its second-quarter profits were down 87 per cent amid the global smartphone market slowdown.
Bank of East Asia (23 HK) fell 1.7 per cent to HK$20.85, after it said its first-half profit fell by nearly 75 per cent.
And Geely Auto (175 HK) fell 0.5 per cent to HK$11.04, after reporting its profit fell 40 per cent to 4 billion yuan in the first half, while revenue was down 11 per cent to 47.55 billion yuan in the same period.
Rising stocks included China Resources Beer Holdings (291 HK), which jumped 3.1 per cent to HK$43.20, and Sino Biopharmaceutical (1177 HK), which gained 3.6 per cent to HK$10.46.
The Hang Seng closed ahead 0.15 per cent at 26,270.04.
-- Deb Price


Stocks Blog: Disappointing blue chip earnings cap gains in Hong Kong

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Trump says 'I'm not ready to make a deal with China' Xiaomi (1810 HK) sheds nearly 5 per cent after Q2 net profit falls 87 per cent

Trump says 'I'm not ready to make a deal with China'

Xiaomi (1810 HK) sheds nearly 5 per cent after Q2 net profit falls 87 per cent