Chinese state intervention has tentatively put a floor under stocks, but corporate earnings show little sign of providing upwards momentum as pressure is building for investors to pocket profits from the decent gains the market has made.
Hong Kong stocks underperformed the region as sentiment was dealt a blow by the cancellation of a Hong Kong IPO by Alibaba Group’s logistic unit and a cautious outlook from electric vehicle maker BYD.
Hong Kong stocks fluctuated between marginal gains and losses as more than 20 full-year results due this week including China’s biggest banks and EV giant BYD are set to test the strength of the rebound.
South Korea plans to review the sale of potentially high-risk investments after a probe found that banks mis-sold China-linked structured products, exposing retail investors to more than US$4 billion in losses.