Hong Kong Stocks jump after US-China G-20 trade deal

Headline shares of the Hong Kong market were sharply higher in robust trade on Monday, 03 December 2018, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after the US and China agreed during the weekend to suspend new tariffs in the escalating trade war. In late afternoon trade, the Hang Seng Index surged 613.95 points or 2.3% to 27,120.70. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index spurted 255.19 points or 2.4% to 10,876.93.

Risk appetite has returned in city market today on the positive Sino-US trade truce struck at the G20 Summit, a relief for the global economic outlook and a tonic for emerging markets. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to take measures to ease bilateral trade tensions and keep up close contacts.

In a much-anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the weekend, the heads of the world's two biggest economies hammered out a deal that will see them hold off on their tit-for-tat tariffs row, which has roiled global equities for most of the year. The leaders called a cease-fire in their trade dispute, to last for at least 90 days, to allow time to smooth out disagreements over Chinese technology policies that the U.S. and other trading partners consider predatory. Trump will hold off on plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, which were supposed to kick in on Jan. 1. In return, Xi agreed to buy a "very substantial amount" of agricultural, energy and industrial products from the U.S. to reduce its large trade deficit with China.

Market heavyweights rose across the board. HSBC (00005) added 1.9% to HK$68.15. Tencent (00700) shot up 4.2% to HK$325. HKEX (00388) jumped 3.1% to HK$235. But China Mobile (00941) dipped 1.1% to HK$76.8. AIA (01299) put on 3% to HK$65.35.

Shares of Casino operators gained after Macau government reported that gross gaming revenues growth accelerated to 8.5% YoY in November, with 11-month GGR rising 13.7%. Galaxy Entertainment (00027) soared 8.1% to HK$51.95. Sands China (01928) shot up 9% to HK$36.9. MGM China (02282) surged 9.4% to HK$14.62. SJM Holdings (00880) advanced 6.8% to HK$7.53. Wynn Macau (01128) jumped 7% to HK$19.02. Melco International Development (00200) gained 4.2% to HK$16.36.

Shares of major handset components suppliers also soared. AAC Technologies (02018) added 8.3% to HK$60.05. Sunny Optical (02382) rose 7.8% to HK$81.6 even though Nomura cut its target price for the company.

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