Hong Kong Stocks fall as Sinopec suspensions spook market

Headline shares of the Hong Kong financial market closed down after erasing gains late afternoon on Thursday, 27 December 2018, dragged down by Sinopec which fell after reports that the state-owned oil giant had suspended two top executives at its trading arm. The sudden suspensions erased the optimism in the morning session, when expectations of policy support and buoyant global stock markets led local stocks higher. Local market gained in early trade on tracking Wall Street's overnight surge, where all three main benchmarks advanced at least 5% after strong retail sales data, easing concerns about the tenure of the Federal Reserve chief, an progress on US-China trade talks. At closing bell, the Hang Seng Index declined 172.50 points or 0.67% to 25,478.88. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 71.88 points or 0.71% to 9,991.06. Turnover was HK$56.2 billion compared to shortened-session of HK$34.7 billion on Monday. The local market closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for Christmas holidays.

US stocks rebounded sharply, paced by an Amazon-led surge in retail shares after a steep slide for equities had put the S&P 500 on the brink of a bear market on Christmas Eve. Sales in the 2018 US holiday shopping season rose 5.1 per cent to more than $US850 billion, the strongest in six years, according to a Mastercard report. The S&P 500 retailing index jumped 7.4 per cent, while shares of online retailer Amazon, which touted a "record-breaking" season, climbed 9.5 per cent. Also helping sentiment somewhat was White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett responded to a question about whether Jerome Powell's job as chairman of the Federal Reserve was safe: "Yes, of course, 100 per cent."

Shares of energy stocks rose across the board in the morning session but turned south after a newswire reported that Sinopec has suspended the two top officials at its trading arm Unipec. Sinopec (00386) slid 4.7% to HK$5.7. PetroChina (00857) edged down 0.2% to HK$4.84. But CNOOC (00883) remained 0.5% higher at HK$11.76.

Macau gaming counters were higher on strong tourist visitation growth of 15% during Christmas holidays after the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in October. Galaxy Entertainment (00027) edged up 0.1% to HK$47.85. Sands China (01928) nudged up 0.2% to HK$33.2. Wynn Macau (01128) put on 0.7% to HK$16.9. MGM China (02282) fell 0.5% to HK$12.84. Melco International Development (00200) added 2.8% to HK$15.46.

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