The blue-chip index opened up 124 points to 27,283, which marked the day high. The index then gave up its gains and hit a day low of 26,967 (down 192 points) in the afternoon trade.
Investors weren't happy with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) proposed unsolicited US$36.6 billion takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange. Citigroup on Wednesday cut the exchange operator's rating to “sell” from “buy” with a new target of HK$210 a share, saying the high offer could weigh on HKEX's shares in the near term.
Blue chips were mixed. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) dropped shed 3.5% to HK$237.4, a day after it made a £32bn takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange, in a transaction that is expected to be rejected in the face of pushback from investors and regulators. HSBC (00005) dipped 0.8% to HK$60.25 after the global bank said it intends to sell its retail banking business in France. Tencent (00700) added 1% to HK$349.4 on the repurchase of 110,000 shares of its own. China Mobile (00941) nudged up 0.1% to HK$67.35. AIA (01299) slipped 1.4% to HK$79.2.
Shares of exporters climbed after the US President Donald Trump delayed for two weeks a planned tariff hike on US$250bn of Chinese goods, originally scheduled for 1 October. Techtronic Industries (00669) soared 4% to HK$57.3. WH Group (00288) jumped 3.9% to HK$7.22. Minth Group (00425) surged 3.5% to HK$26.7. Nexteer Automotive (01316) added 1% to HK$6.91.
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