Hong Kong stocks slid to halt a monthly gain as an official report showed that manufacturing in China contracted for a fourth consecutive month and a flurry of companies from banks to property developers reported disappointing results.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.8 per cent to 17,670.72 at the noon break, backtracking after the benchmark rose almost 4 per cent in August for the biggest monthly gain since April. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.8 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.6 per cent.
Developers sank after New World Development (NWD) warned of an annual loss and China Vanke posted its first interim loss in two decades. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank, the nation’s biggest state-backed lenders, dropped after reporting lower first-half profits.
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a survey of sentiment among Chinese factory owners, fell to 49.1 in August, the…
