The Hang Seng Index fell 0.5 per cent to 24,952.38 as of 10.15am local time. Still, the benchmark has risen 1.6 per cent for the week on bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates on the back of the weak labour market data.
The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.9 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both retreated 0.3 per cent.
Wharf Real Estate Investment slumped 7.6 per cent to HK$23.76 after first-half operating profit dropped 5 per cent from a year ago. Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp slumped 5.1 per cent to HK$50.30 after net income for the second quarter fell short of analysts’ estimates.
Data on China’s consumer and producer prices is due tomorrow. Factory-gate prices probably fell 3.3 per cent from a year ago and consumer inflation may have dropped 0.1 per cent, according to the projection by the economists polled by Bloomberg.
Other major Asian markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.1 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.4 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 per cent.
