Hong Kong futures point to lower start after FBI email probe

Hong Kong stocks are on track to open lower on Monday, the last trading day of October, after the restart of a probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails by the Federal Bureau of Investigation jolted the US stock market at the end of last week.

The Hang Seng Index futures spot November contract slipped 0.1 per cent or 23 points to 22,856 in the pre-opening session.

On Friday, all three major US indexes closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a fourth straight session, down 8.49 points to 18,161.19. The S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent or 6.63 points to 2,126.41. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5 per cent or 25.87 points to end at 5,190.10.

Hong Kong stocks listed in the US as American Depository Receipts (ADRs) closed mixed compared with their Hong Kong counterparts after conversion into the local currency. HSBC’s ADR ended at HK$58.91, up 0.5 per cent from its Hong Kong close. However, Sinopec dropped 0.3 per cent to HK$5.64, and Lenovo fell 1 per cent to HK$4.97.

Asian markets traded mostly lower on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei Average down 0.3 per cent to 17,396.81 and South Korea’s Kospi off 0.3 per cent to 2,013.61.

On Friday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended down 0.8 per cent at 22,954.81. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index also settled lower by 0.3 per cent at 3,104.27.

(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)