Hong Kong stock indices end flat after Democrats take control of US House

Hong Kong stocks ended roughly flat in choppy trade on Wednesday, after Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives, boosting the party's ability to block President Donald Trump's political and economic

The Democrats' House win creates a hurdle for Republicans to easily pass legislation through both chambers of Congress, clouding the outlook for some of Trump's key economic proposals.

"A divided government is nothing new in the U.S. experience ... This, however, will be an extremely divided government over the next two years," wrote Vincent Reinhart, Chief Economist at Standish, part of BNY Mellon Investment Management. "This election result creates a headwind for economic activity."

The Hang Seng index ended largely flat at 26,147.69, while the China Enterprises Index closed 0.1 per cent higher at 10,641.48 points.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares ended 0.2 per cent higher, while the IT sector closed up 0.29 per cent, the financial sector ended 0.32 per cent higher and property sector closed 0.36 per cent firmer.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Hang Lung Properties Ltd, which ended up 2.32 per cent, while the biggest loser was Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, which closed down 4.94 per cent.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.39 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.28 per cent.

The yuan was quoted at 6.9262 per U.S. dollar at 0825 GMT, 0.12 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.9177.

The top gainers among H-shares were Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd, which ended 3.41 per cent higher, followed by ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co Ltd, which closed up 2.95 per cent and Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd, which ended 2 per cent firmer.

The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, which closed down 3.87 per cent, China Galaxy Securities Co Ltd, which ended 3.3 per cent lower and CITIC Securities Co Ltd, which closed down 1.7 per cent.

About 1.78 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 93.5 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.91 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.61 billion shares.