Hong Kong stock market finished session lower on Wednesday, 27 January 2021, extending the previous day's steep losses, as market participants awaited the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the day. However, market losses capped after the China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed profits at China's industrial firms grew for the eighth straight month in December.

At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.32%, or 93.73 points, to 29,297.53. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.38%, or 44.19 points, to 11,651.24.

Market players are cautiously watching whether the Fed will dial back or continue with a quantitative easing program that has supported the stock market

China's industrial profits grew 20.1% year-on-year in December 2020, bigger than the 15.5% increase registered in November 2020, the country's National Bureau of Statistics announced on Wednesday. For the whole year of 2020, annual profits for China's industrial firms grew 4.1% year-on-year to 6.45 trillion yuan, recovering from a 3.3% on-year decline seen in 2019. Earnings at China's state-owned industrial firms were down 2.9% for 2020 year-on-year, compared with a 12% slump in 2019, the statistics bureau data showed. Private sector profits grew 3.1% in 2020, stronger than 2019's 2.2% rise.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News