Hong Kong stocks rise as China property sales return to growth

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Home sales by China’s 22 key property developers jumped 66 per cent from a month earlier in October

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Residential buildings in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

Zhang Shidongin Shanghai

Published: 10:16am, 1 Nov 2024Updated: 4:27pm, 1 Nov 2024

Hong Kong stocks rose after property sales in China returned to growth for the first time this year, adding to evidence of economic stabilisation on the mainland.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.9 per cent to 20,506.43 at the close, reducing to 0.4 per cent the decline for the five-day period. China Overseas Land and Investment and China Resources Land led gains among property developers. Electric-vehicle maker Li Auto slumped after providing lower-than-expected sales guidance for the fourth quarter. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.3 per cent.

Mainland benchmarks finished lower. The CSI 300 Index slipped less than 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 per cent.

Home sales by China’s 22 key property developers jumped 66 per cent from a month earlier in October, according to China Real Estate Information Corp. Sales rose 2 per cent from a year earlier, it said.

“We attribute this to a strong improvement in homebuyers’ sentiment due to the central government’s resolute stance on saving China’s property market,” said Raymond Cheng, managing director at CGS International Securities in Hong Kong. “The central government realises the importance of the property market to the economy and will accelerate policy implementation and launch more supportive policies to stimulate genuine demand and destocking. Therefore, we expect property sales to register year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter and 2025.”

The data adds to optimism about an economic improvement after a number of stimulus measures have been rolled out since September. An official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) report on Thursday showed the manufacturing sector ended five months of contraction in October. A private PMI report on Friday also showed that the sector was in expansionary territory last month.