Hong Kong Investors Bid Up Shares On Turnaround Hopes For China's Sluggish Economy

Hong Kong stocks ended a quiet week in the green as speculators bet that government easing measures in China would come into place to stimulate the local economy. The Hang Seng Index finished the day’s trading 1.6% higher at 17,485.98.

China’s stock markets and banks were closed this week for the annual National Golden Week Holiday, which investors hope also provided a boost to consumer spending.

About HK$60 billion ($7.7 billion) of shares were traded per day in Hong Kong this week, about half the weekly 12-month average volume.

A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS report stipulating that the economic slowdown in China is coming to an end followed a similar report by Citigroup Inc. C Thursday which stated that the bottom is in for a slump in exports and weak consumer confidence on the mainland.

“We expect growth and inflation to bottom out in the near term on stabilising exports, less drag from inventory destocking and increased policy offset,” Goldman’s economists wrote in the report.

Property stocks and exporters got most of the action as investors bet that a turning point for China’s economy had been reached. Hang Lung Properties Limited HLPPY jumped 2.3%, Sino Land Company Limited SNLAY rose 1% and Country Garden Holdings Company Limited CTRYY leaped 3.5% on the day. Sunac China Holdings Limited SNCNF surged 10.5% after it successfully convinced a Hong Kong court Thursday to vote in favour of its $10.2 billion offshore debt restricting proposals, approved by 98% of its creditors in a fortnight-ago vote.

Consumer names Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA and JD.com, Inc. JD were both higher by 1.5%. Tencent Holdings Limited TCEHY and insurer AIA Group Ltd. AAIGF were both around 2% stronger on the day as both companies continued their aggressive multi-month stock repurchasing programs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

CNOOC fell a bit after Bloomberg reported today that it told investors there would be a delay of seven days in an offshore bond repayment to account for the Chinese national holiday. The $1.3 billion investment grade 10-year bonds issued in 2013 were trading at 99.99 cents on the dollar, indicating that investors were unconcerned about any credit risk from the issuer, but the incident sparked discussions about what constituted a debt default in light of recent property share credit defaults. In the bonds’ terms of repayment, it stipulates they will be repaid within two working days of the maturity date of the notes according to a New York and Australian working week.

Caixin, China’s largest business daily reported that automaker NIO Inc. NIO is starting to put pressure on rival EV makers Tesla, Inc. TSLA, Li Auto Inc. LI, XPeng Inc. XPEV and BYD Company Limited BYDYY in China after raising sales commissions for its agents.

Minimum sales commissions paid to NIO sales reps have been more than doubled recently, Caixin said, from 800 RMB ($110) to 2,000 RMB per car sold and by over fourfold from 800 RMB to 4,000 RMB per car for inventory stock and showroom display vehicles. The big increase in sales commissions was what helped the company achieve over 6 billion RMB in sales and raise sales over the 20,000-mark in July this year.