Chinese President Says Current Economy Not Scary

Shares in Hong Kong and China rallied on Monday on news of the approval of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which will connect the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed up 0.83%, or 194.46 points, at 23,744.70.

In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished 2.3% higher at 2,473.67.

Also in China, data showed that annual price inflation in October was 1.6%, near a five-year low.

The figure was unchanged from September and was in line with market expectations.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korean shares rallied with the Kospi index up 0.9% at 1,958.23 on news of an impending free trade agreement with China, its largest trading partner.

Blue-chip exporters led the rally with Samsung Electronics up 5.1% and Hyundai Motor 2.8% higher.

Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.8% to 16,752.04 after hitting a one-week low.

The benchmark’s shares fell to as low as 16,713.37 on Monday – its weakest level since 31 October.

The yen traded at 114.45 to the dollar, strengthening from the seven-year low of 115.60 yen it hit on Friday.

Shares of NTT tumbled by more than 6% to a two-week low after the telecommunication company cut its full-year operating profit outlook due to a weak mobile phone business.

Australian shares were lower on profit taking. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 0.5% at 5,524 points.

via BBC

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