(Updates to close)
* Hang Seng down 3 pct, Shanghai down 2 pct
* Turnover low, could stay low on Tuesday with U.S. markets closed Monday
* Oil names lead losses as investors sell risky assets
* Shanghai closes at lowest since July 2010
By Clement Tan
HONG KONG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares traded lower for a second straight session on Monday, after dismal U.S. jobs data on Friday renewed recession fears on the world's largest economy. CNOOC Ltd led declines with an 8 percent drop.
In the last two sessions, the Hang Seng Index has more than halved its gains from its rally from August 9 troughs, but losses came in with low volumes, suggesting there were no signs of panic.
"I'm actually not too bearish about September," said Alex Wong, Ample Finance Group's director of asset management. "We've been pushed down by thin volumes, but with Obama's speech on Thursday, the FOMC meeting in mid-September and a number of IPOs ahead, volume should pick up."
The Hang Seng Index finished down 3 percent at 19,616.4 points as turnover sank to its lowest in a week and could stay low with U.S. markets closed for the Labour Day holiday on Monday.
Near-term support is seen at about 19,600, the 38.2 percent retracement of the rise to its 2010 high from the low of the 2008 financial crisis.
Leading losses on the day was CNOOC Ltd as it slumped almost 8.9 percent in volume almost three times its 30-day average. The company said production would be hit by a government-ordered suspension of operations at the nation's largest offshore oil field. Production was earlier suspended at its Bohai Bay oil field.
China's top offshore energy producer was the top percentage loser among Hang Seng Index components and its top drag for a second-straight session. The Hang Seng Composite Index for Energy was the standout underperformer, slumping almost 5 percent.
Monday's decline means CNOOC has erased almost all its gains from a low on Aug. 9. It gained about 9 percent in the first four days last week, leading the rally on the Hang Seng Index, before slumping more than 3 percent on Friday as the benchmark met stiff resistance at 21,000.
CNOOC and its other Chinese petroleum peers, PetroChina Co Ltd and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) have a combined 11 percent weighting on the Hang Seng Index. All three stocks were down.
Any upside on the benchmark is not likely without a boost from HSBC Holdings Plc , which has a 14.2 percent weighting and lost 2.8 percent on the day.
But Europe's largest bank is unlikely to rise from current levels with debt problems in Europe expected to continue to fester and the global economy slowing.
ENERGY NAMES DRAG SHANGHAI TO FRESH YEAR LOWS
Energy stocks also led losses the Shanghai Composite Index , down 2 percent at 2,478.7 points, the lowest since July last year with A-share turnover nearing a 14-month low as money supply diminished.
Low turnover, market watchers said, was the result of top mainland banks starting deposit payments with the central bank on Monday after Beijing announced fresh moves on Aug. 26 to contain money supply.
"Everything is combining to hurt the market right now, although overseas events are a bigger damper today," said Zhang Qiwei, a strategist with China Economic and Business Monitor in Shanghai.
PetroChina Co Ltd , China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp were among the top drags, pulling the Shanghai energy sub-index down 3.1 percent.
Gold-related names cut losses on the Shanghai benchmark as gold prices tested its record high on Friday. Shandong Gold gained 0.9 percent while Zhongjin Gold gained 0.7 percent. (Editing by Ramya Venugopal)
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿