Hong Kong stocks recover to close flat, telecoms shine

Hong Kong stocks recouped earlier losses to close flat on Monday, aided by telecommunications firms following a report that Beijing will push forward 5G development, although investors remained concerned that escalating trade tensions could increase risks of a global slowdown.

** The Hang Seng index was unchanged at 26,893.86 points, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.4%, to 10,430.64 points. ** Telecom stocks outperformed on Monday, with the Hang Seng telecommunications index closing up 2.5%, in its best session since Jan. 4.

** China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will roll out commercial 5G licenses "in the near future", the official Xinhua reported. ** China threatened on Friday to unveil an unprecedented hit-list of "unreliable" foreign firms, groups and individuals that harm the interests of Chinese companies.

** The United States cannot use pressure to force a trade deal on China, a senior Chinese official and trade negotiator said on Sunday, refusing to be drawn on whether the leaders of the two countries would meet at the G20 summit to bash out an agreement. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.46%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.92%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.9074 per U.S. dollar at 08:15 GMT, 0.05% weaker than the previous close of 6.904. ** The top gainers among H-shares were Guangdong Investment Ltd up 4.28%, followed by China Tower Corp Ltd, gaining 3.98%, and China Telecom Corp Ltd, up by 3.01%.

** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd, which was down 2.28%, China Vanke Co Ltd, which fell 2.2%, and China Citic Bank Corp Ltd, down by 1.8%. ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 26.82% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares. 

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