The Hang Seng Index fell 0.1 per cent to 23,864.20 at the noon break. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.2 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index were both little changed.
Wuxi Biologics led a decline in drug makers after a major shareholder of the biotech firm sold a stake for HK$2.2 billion (US$280 million). Tempering the losses, gold jeweller Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group jumped more than 6 per cent after the military conflict between Iran and Israel sent bullion prices soaring.
Meanwhile, industrial output in May grew by 5.8 per cent year on year, and fixed-asset investment in the first five months rose by 3.7 per cent, the statistics bureau said. Both fell short of the projections of the Bloomberg survey.
A separate report showed that the downturn in the property market deepened last month. New home prices fell 0.22 per cent in May from the previous month, the worst drop since October, according to the agency.
“The economic outlook for the rest of the year is uncertain,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management in Hong Kong. “Property prices continue to weaken and may constrain consumer sentiment going forward. The front-loading of export activities helped to sustain the manufacturing sector so far this year. It is unclear how long exports can continue [the sector’s] momentum going into the second half of the year.”
