Hong Kong Stocks end mixed

Hong Kong shares were mixed in holiday shortened session on Friday, 24 December 2021, with benchmark Hang Seng Index finishing higher for fourth day, but Hang Seng China Enterprises Index settled lower. At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.13%, or 30.12 points, to 23,223.76. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.03%, or 2.36 points, to 8,201.95. Hong Kong's equity market will be shut on December 27 for a public holiday.

The mixed finish of the city bourses came as investors opted to secure recent profit after the major Chinese city of Xi'an entered a lockdown on Thursday and ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Meanwhile, sentiment was also subdued on heightened US-China tensions after President Joe Biden signed into law a measure that will effectively ban all imports from Xinjiang for alleged use of forced labour. Xinjiang, mostly populated by the Uygur ethnic minority, is a major producer of cotton as well as polysilicon, which is used in solar panels.

The city of Xian in northwest China's Shaanxi province with some 13mn residents went into a lockdown on Thursday following the detection of 234 Covid-19 cases since December 9. All residents have been ordered to stay indoors, communities have been put under closed management, and outgoing transport including trains and flights have been cancelled, health authorities said as the city started the third round of nucleic acid testing for all residents.

Shares of Macau's casino operators advanced on optimism that their gambling concessions would extended next year. Sands China jumped 4.7%, Galaxy Entertainment added 2.1% and MGM China surged by 7.2%.

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