HSI ends volatile day in positive territory

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  • 2021-03-09 HKT 16:55″ title=”Hong Kong shares seesawed between gains and losses after reports say Beijing has stepped in to ensure market stability. Image: Shutterstock”>


    Hong Kong shares seesawed between gains and losses after reports say Beijing has stepped in to ensure market stability. Image: Shutterstock
    Hong Kong shares seesawed between gains and losses after reports say Beijing has stepped in to ensure market stability. Image: Shutterstock

Local shares finished higher in choppy trade on Tuesday as investors continued to dump tech stocks amid reports that Beijing intervened in the market.

The Hang Seng Index opened slightly higher but quickly dipped into the red, losing as many as 214 points, before making a U-turn to climb more than 500 points to top 29,000 at one stage.

But it failed to hold on to the gains until a late rally sent the index 232 points or 0.8 percent higher for the day at 28,773.

Turnover was HK$276 billion.

Reports said China’s state-backed funds, dubbed its “national team”, had weighed in to stabilise the market during the annual National People’s Congress meetings, with entities linked to the funds actively buying shares through stock links with Hong Kong.

The Hang Seng Tech Index plunged as much as 4 percent during early trade before bouncing back. It finished the day down 0.2 percent.

Meituan slipped 2.2 percent. Xiaomi gave up 1.8 percent. But heavyweight Tencent edged up 0.2 percent and Alibaba put on 1 percent.

The biggest blue-chip losers were PetroChina and CNOOC, each shedding more than 2.5 percent.

Appliance maker Techtronic Industries surged 6 percent to become the day’s winner on the index.

Galaxy Entertainment and CK Hutchison each advanced more than 4 percent.

Across the border, the blue-chip CSI300 index hit its lowest level since December before crawling back up, but it then gave up the gains and ended 2.2 percent lower. The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.8 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 2.8 percent.

Regional markets were mostly up as investors digested a pullback in US bond yields after the US Senate passed a giant stimulus bill.

The Nikkei in Japan added 1 percent. Australia was 0.5 percent higher. Taiwan edged up 0.2 percent. Singapore climbed 1.1 percent. But South Korea dropped 0.7 percent.