Hong Kong stocks swung between gains and losses after growth in Chinese
industrial profit slowed and ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that
starts today. The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.1 percent to
21,990.15 as of 9:35 a.m. in Hong Kong after falling as much as 0.2
percent. The measure closed yesterday at the lowest level since Aug. 30.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland Chinese companies,
known as the H-share index, rose 0.6 percent to 9,848.69. Profits at
Chinese industrial companies year-to-date increased 12.2 percent in
December, down from 13.2 percent the prior month, according to a report
today. The H-share index tumbled 9.5 percent this year through
yesterday as data on China’s manufacturing and services industries
fueled concern the world’s second-largest economy is slowing.The
Hang Seng Index (HSI) sank 5.7 percent for the period, the
second-biggest drop among major developed markets tracked by Bloomberg.
The stock gauge traded at 9.7 times estimated earnings yesterday, the
lowest since July. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500
Index added 0.1 percent after the gauge dropped 0.5 percent yesterday.
The U.S. central bank decided at its December gathering to begin cutting
its monthly bond buying by $10 billion to $75 billion.Fed
policy makers, who start a two-day meeting today, will probably cut
another $10 billion from their monthly bond-buying program, according to
the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg this month.In
Hong Kong, exports for December were unchanged from a year earlier, a
report showed yesterday, missing the 3.6 percent increase estimated by
economists. Imports climbed 1.8 percent, compared with the 3 percent
median estimate of 11 economists in Bloomberg News survey.
