Headline shares of the Hong Kong market retreated on Thursday, 25 October 2018, as risk-off mood dominated on tracking steep sell off in US markets overnight amid nervousness around US corporate earnings and geopolitical uncertainty added to heightened worries about global growth, Italy's free spending budget and Sino-US trade tensions. In afternoon trades, the Hang Seng Index declined 455.18 points or 1.8% to 24,794.60. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index decreased by 175 points or 1.7% to 10,051. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking the Commerce & Industry sector fell 2.5%, properties sector shed 0.4%, financial sector slipped 1.7%, and Utilities sector sank 0.6%.
Thursday's tumble follows a fall by US stocks overnight, which confirmed a correction for the Nasdaq and erased the Dow and S&P 500's gains for the year amid disappointing earnings, economic growth concerns, a spat between Italy and the European Union and the killing of a Saudi journalist.
CORPORATE NEWS: I. T Limited (00999) interim net up 88% in -- I. T Limited (00999) net profit increased 87.8% to HK$113.4 million for the six months ended August 2018. Total turnover of increased 11.3% to HK$4,064.1 million. Total retail sales in Hong Kong and Macau increased 7.6% to HK$1,559.6 million. Same-store-sales-growth rate registered growth of 8% (FY2017/18: decline of 6.9%). Total trading area reduced 6.3%. Total retail sales in Mainland China increased 12% to HK$1,831.6 million. Same-store-sales-growth rate registered at negative 2.5% (FY2017/18: positive 0.9%).
Gross profit of the group increased 13.9% to HK$2,600.7 million with a gross profit margin of 64% (FY2017/18: 62.5%).
Far East Horizon (03360) 3Q profit up 20%-- Far East Horizon Limited (03360) net profit increased 20% for the third quarter ended September, compared to that of the corresponding period of 2017. Its unaudited total interest-earning assets increased by slightly over 20% as compared to that of the end of 2017. The group's unaudited total revenue increased by over 35% as compared to the corresponding period of 2017. The group's net interest spread and net interest margin remained relatively stable. Meanwhile, the group's asset quality remained at a healthy level and the provision coverage ratio remained at a healthy level of over 200%.
OFFSHORE MARKET: US stock market closed down Wednesday, as fear that the economy is exiting the "peak" earnings environment helped by US tax cuts that were enacted late last year. Investors also have been unnerved by comments from industrial companies saying trade conflicts have raised material costs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.4% to close at 24,583.42. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 4.4% to finish at 7,108.40, while the broad-based S&P 500 sank 3.1% to 2,656.15.
European markets also ended down on Wednesday after widely watched Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) survey reports showed Euro zone business growth slowed more than expected this month. German private-sector growth fell to its lowest in more than three years, and manufacturing in France hit a 25-month low, according to other surveys. The European Central Bank (ECB) holds its monetary policy meeting later today, and investors will be looking for any new guidance from the ECB acknowledging the recent slowdown in growth as well as the political stand-off between Brussels and Rome over Italy's free spending budget. The U. K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1%, the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3%, and the German DAX Index slid by 0.7%.
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