China shares poised for weekly gain

Hong Kong - Chinese stocks in Hong Kong headed for a weekly advance as higher oil prices turbocharged energy producers.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index has rallied 3.5% this week and was down 0.4% at 08:07. China Oilfield Services surged 14% while PetroChina and Cnooc headed for their biggest weekly gains since April as crude traded above $50 a barrel. 

Cheung Kong Infrastructure, which gets almost a third of its revenue from the UK, slid to a five-week low after a plunge in the pound. Hong Kong will be shut for a holiday on Monday, when Chinese markets reopen after a week-long break.

Oil has gained about 13% since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed September 28 to cut production for the first time in eight years.

This week’s rally by China H shares helped the benchmark index climb back into gains for the year, with a 3% advance. By contrast, the Shanghai Composite Index is still down 15%. Stocks in Hong Kong dipped lower on Friday after the pound fell as much as 6.1% and traders braced for the release of US jobs data that may bolster the case for an interest-rate increase this year.

Locking in gains

“Short-term profit taking is a high possibility as some investors are likely to lock in gains ahead of US jobs data and also with the Hong Kong market off Monday,” said Linus Yip, a Hong Kong-based strategist at First Shanghai Securities.

The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6%, paring its weekly advance to 2.3%. Along with energy companies, Galaxy Entertainment and China Life Insurance are the best performers this week. China Resources Land as fallen 6.7% to lead mainland developers lower after cities announced curbs to cool a surge in home prices.

Cheung Kong Infrastructure, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, slid 0.9% on the day, while CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., which generated 37 percent of earnings from the UK in 2015, dropped 1%. The pound sank as low as $1.1841, the weakest since March 1985.

In China, the nation’s foreign-exchange reserves declined to $3.17trn in September, central bank data show, falling below the median estimate of $3.18trn in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The offshore yuan has weakened 0.57% against the dollar this week, the biggest drop in three months.

Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories