High earnings 'will propel HSI to 31,000'by Avery Chen
HSBC Private Banking forecasts Hang Seng Index will climb to 31,000 points at the end of this year, supported by better-than-expected corporate earnings growth with earnings structure of mainland companies focusing on domestic demand.
The forecast came as the Hang Seng Index recovered from 250 point drop to close just 65 points lower at 27,288 after US President Donald Trump said there was a "very good chance" of clinching a trade deal with China.
Banking stocks overall were under pressure, after regulators revealed that they would assume control of Baoshang Bank for one year because of "serious" credit risks. China's first government takeover of a bank in more than two decades has underscored the potential for increased stress at regional lenders that piled into off-book financing in recent years.
The first phase of the MSCI index's A-share inclusion will start after the market closes today, indicating the weight of A share will increase from 5 percent to 10 percent from tomorrow.
HSBC Private Banking's end-2019 targets for the MSCI China, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and CSI 300 Index are 94, 12,500 and 4,500 respectively.
It expects that the United States will not have to reduce interest rates this year due to low unemployment rates, low inflation and solid economic growth in 2019, but it projects two interest rate cuts in September and December next year.
In the event of the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on an additional US$325 billion (HKD$2.5 trillion) of Chinese exports to the US, China's 2019 GDP growth could be reduced by 1.2 percentage points if no additional stimulus is introduced, and the US GDP will reduce about 0.3 percentage points, the bank says.
Fan Cheuk-wan, chief market strategist, Asia, at HSBC Private Banking, says the bank trimmed its overweight allocation to Chinese equities by half but maintains a small overweight position due to the tailwind of Beijing's policy stimulus, continued structural reforms and strong earnings growth.
The bank forecasts the yuan will weaken to around 6.95 per dollar in the second and third quarter and stabilize towards 6.75 against if there is a moderation of trade tensions later this year.
It also expects global GDP to slow down to 2.4 percent this year and 2020 with the US and Chinese GDP growth falling to 2.4 percent and 6.6 percent in 2019, respectively. Hong Kong GDP is projected to slow down to 2.7 percent in 2019 and 2.5 percent in 2020.
Fan adds the bank believes the market leadership of the tech sector in the equity rally is not over.
Source: The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-n ... 0528&sid=2
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"