Financial, healthcare stocks drag Hong Kong shares lower

Hong Kong shares closed lower on Thursday, dragged by financial and healthcare stocks, while energy firms tumbled as China stepped up efforts to tame coal prices. ** China's state planner has met with coal producers and the sector's industry association in the past two days to study standards, identify methods of profiteering and discuss measures to intervene in coal prices. ** Tech giants edged higher, with the information technology sub-index up 0.3%.

Hong Kong shares closed lower on Thursday, dragged by financial and healthcare stocks, while energy firms tumbled as China stepped up efforts to tame coal prices. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% to 25,555.73 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.5% to 9,052.70 points.

** The financials sub-index and the healthcare sub-index lost 0.8% and 1.3%, respectively. ** Ping An Insurance Group declined 2.4%, after it posted a 31.2% fall in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday.

** The energy and power-intensive materials sectors slumped 1.4% and 4.4%, respectively. ** China's state planner has met with coal producers and the sector's industry association in the past two days to study standards, identify methods of profiteering and discuss measures to intervene in coal prices.

** Tech giants edged higher, with the information technology sub-index up 0.3%. Food delivery giant Meituan gained 1.3%. ** China's home-grown sportswear group, Li Ning Co Ltd , tumbled more than 8% on discounted share sale, making it the biggest percentage decliner in the Hang Seng Index .

** Consumer staples gained 1.4% ** Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Ltd surged 8.6% after a subsidiary said its 9-month revenue jumped, making it the biggest percentage gainer on the Hang Seng Index.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)