The Hang Seng Index opened 393 points lower today Sept. 14, after the US stock market plunged yesterday and the Dow fell by more than 1,000 points, the Asia-Pacific region also reduced, the Australian and Japanese stocks retreated more than 2.5 percent, and South Korea and Taiwan added 1.6 percent. The higher-than-expected inflation in the United States dragged down the global stock exchange.
The Australian dollar and the British pound stabilized after depreciating more than 1.5 percent yesterday. The Hang Seng Index fell 337 points from the high and 529 points from the low, and finally closed at 18,847 points, down 479 points (or 2.5 percent), with a turnover of 93.7 billion yuan. The HSCEI fell 2.5 percent, and the KSE Index fell 2.8 percent.
Tencent (00700) fell 1.7 percent, Alibaba (09988) fell 4.5 percent, Meituan (03690) fell 2.3 percent, Jingdong (09618) fell 4.2 percent, Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) fell 2.7 percent, HSBC Holdings (00005) fell 2.6 percent; the best and worst performing blue-chip stocks were Orient Overseas (00316) up 2.3 percent, and Tech & Technology (00669) down 10.0 percent.
By industry group, tourism and leisure facilities stocks outperformed today, with MTR (00066) down 0.9 percent, Galaxy Entertainment (00027) up 0.4 percent, and Air China (00753) down 1.9 percent.
Morgan Stanley pointed to higher-than-expected U.S. inflation, increasing the chances of a sharp drop in the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) stock market, raising the probability of the bank’s most pessimistic scenario, and reiterating its “underweight” rating on the technology, semiconductor, and Internet sectors.
Zhongguancun (Shenzhen: 000931, down 4.76 percent) announced on Sept. 13 that more than 14 million Zhongguancun shares held by Gome were frozen by the court, worth about 97 million yuan.
Chow Tai Fook Holdings, which is privately held by the Cheng family, failed to acquire the majority share of Giordano but said it would continue to support the company. (Giordano 00709, down 8.7 percent).
US PCAOB personnel are reported to arrive in Hong Kong as soon as this week to review the audit papers of Chinese stocks. (See the report for details).
U.S.-listed Tencent Music (US: TME) is moving ahead with plans to list in Hong Kong, with a goal of listing in Hong Kong as soon as next week.
Bids for Macau’s current round of gaming licenses closed Sept. 14, Wynn Macau (01128, down 0.8 percent), Sands China’s Venetian Company (01928, up 0.1 percent), Melco Crown International (00200, up 1.0 percent)’s Melco Crown The bid has been submitted, and Melco Chairman He Youlong personally entered the bid.
Bidding for Macau New Gaming Licenses Closed on Sept. 14
The public bidding for the Macau casino operating license closed at 5:45 pm Sept. 14. So far, six existing gaming companies have submitted bids. It is expected that the currently licensed gaming companies will be able to successfully obtain new gaming licenses.The number of approved gaming licenses in the new round is 6, and the winning gaming company will be granted a 10-year gaming license contract by the Macau government. Currently, 6 licensed gaming companies, Wynn Macau (01128), Sands China (01928), Galaxy Entertainment (00027), Melco International (00200), MGM China (02282), and Macau Entertainment (00880) have submitted bids. Among them, Wynn Macau was the first to submit it on Sept. 13.
According to Macau media reports, starting this morning, important figures from gaming companies have been present to submit bids in person, including Lawrence Ho Chaofeng and Angelina Leung from Macau Entertainment, Pansy Ho Chaoqiong from MGM, Lawrence Ho Yau-lung, Chairman of Melco International, Francis Lui Yiu-tung, Vice Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment, and Sands China President William Wong Ying-wai.
