SHANGHAI, May 18 (Reuters) – Hong Kong stocks ended roughly flat on Wednesday as a recent recovery ran out of steam, with some investors worried that Beijing’s stimulus may not be adequate to revive the coronavirus-battered economy.
** Both the benchmark Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index edged up 0.2%.
** Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He soothed tech sector’s nerves on Tuesday, saying the government supported the development of the sector and public listings for technology companies.
** The Hang Seng Tech Index, เจอร์เก้น คล็อปป์ which had jumped roughly 14% over the past week in expectation of the meeting, slid 0.3% as some investors were disappointed with the lack of detailed support measures.
** Hong Kong-listed property shares rose 0.8% on news that more Chinese banks have reduced mortgage rates for first-time home buyers, but some cautioned the sector remains in trouble.
** «Housing prices dropped in more cities in April. The sector is going through a crisis,» Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said.
** «The government policy has turned more supportive but not overwhelmingly so … It is not clear when the housing sector will rebound.»
** In its mid-year outlook, Morgan Stanley said it expects China’s 2022 growth to come in at a below-target 5.2%, with the drag from the COVID-zero strategy «only partially offset by broad-based easing» as signalled in the Politburo meeting.
** Gains in energy and industrial shares were offset by losses in IT stocks.(Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Aditya Soni)