Hong Kong stocks fall on profit-taking, Chinese money inflows slump

Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday, dragged lower by financial shares and hit by a plunge in Chinese money inflows, after investors took profits from the previous day’s jump triggered by the Federal Reserve’s approach on raising U.S. rates.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.3 percent, to 23,686.48, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.0 percent, to 9,796.01 points.

But for the week, Hang Seng was up 1.5 percent, while HSCE rose 2.1 percent.

Most sectors fell on Friday, with financial shares leading the decline.

Appetites were curbed by signs that Chinese interest in Hong Kong stocks has suddenly cooled, following strong and steady inflows over the past month.

On Friday, only 500 million yuan ($74.97 million) flowed into Hong Kong from mainland China via the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, or 5 percent of the daily quota. Over the past month, roughly 40 percent of that quota was used every day on average. ($1 = 6.6696 Chinese yuan)