Casinos and Tencent keep lid on stock losses

Macau gaming shares and Tencent (0700) helped the Hang Seng Index to decline less yesterday.

Macau casino stocks rose the most in six months amid high expectations of a tourism recovery though the HSI tumbled and closed 78 points, or 0.44 percent, lower.

Sands China (1928) soared 15.6 percent, the best performer among blue chips. Galaxy Entertainment (0027) jumped 7.2 percent while SJM (0880) surged 11.6 percent.

This came after Macau said it plans to welcome back tour groups from the mainland as soon as November, marking a breakthrough that could boost the gaming hub's economy that's been hammered by Covid restrictions.

Guangdong will be the first to resume group tours, and then the policy will be expanded to Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian, Macau chief executive Ho Iat-seng said Saturday.

The Hang Seng Tech Index saw a 1.6 percent gain, with Tencent rising nearly 3 percent to close at HK$283.20 after Shenzhen said it plans to carve a niche for itself as an international hub for e-sports.

After the market closed, Tencent announced another share buyback of 1.25 million shares, costing it in the region of HK$353 million at prices between HK$273.20 and HK$287.40 apiece.

This came as Alibaba's (9988) Ant Group said it would help four Asian e-wallets, including the Philippines' GCash and Malaysia's Touch'n Go expand into South Korea with its cross-border payment service Alipay+, as travel restrictions begin to lift across Asia.

The move will allow users of e-wallets that use Alipay+, including GCash, Touch'n Go, Thailand's TrueMoney, and AlipayHK to access over 12,000 merchants using their local mobile payments apps when traveling in South Korea.

The first batch of available merchants will include taxis, duty-free shops, convenience stores, according to its parent Ant.

Alibaba inched up 0.4 percent.

Gold mining shares slumped amid pressure from the surging US dollar.

Zijin Mining (2899) tumbled nearly 9 percent after gold prices hit the lowest in 2 years of US$1,626 (HK$12,682)

Zhaojin Mining (1818) fell 5.2 percent while Shandong Gold Mining (1787) went down 4.1 percent.

In the auto sector, Xpeng (9868) jumped 8.7 percent after China extended a tax exemption for electric vehicles till the end of 2023. Li Auto (2015) climbed 4.2 percent while BYD (1211) rose 1.3 percent.