Chinese shares retreated on the last day before a link between the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses begins. The dollar gained versus major peers, touching a seven-year high versus the yen as U.S. oil headed for its longest weekly losing streak since 1986 and gold fell.
The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.5 percent by 1:14 p.m. in Tokyo, and a gauge of Chinese shares in Hong Kong fell 0.6 percent. Chinese stocks fell amid concern recent rallies were excessive. The Shanghai Composite Index pared this week’s gain to 2.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index trimmed its advance since Nov. 7 to 1.8 percent.
Bourses in the two cities will begin trading through the new link, known also as Stock Connect, on Nov. 17. The new link will allow a net 23.5 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) a day of cross-border purchases, with trading in companies listed in Shanghai on the SSE 180 Index and SSE 380 Index as well as shares on the Hang Seng Composite LargeCap Index and Hang Seng Composite MidCap Index in Hong Kong. Stocks with dual listings are also eligible.
Dollar Rises
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent as the greenback bought as much as 116.2 yen, the most since October 2007. West Texas Intermediate oil and Brent crude trimmed their weekly losses after closing at four-year lows yesterday. Gold lost 0.2 percent. U.S. equity-index futures were little changed.
“The U.S. dollar is broadly stronger, and the dollar-yen is probably leading that,” said Sean Callow, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “Most likely the sales-tax hike will be delayed, and that’s probably going to be well received by Japanese equities because it effectively removes the otherwise highly likely prospect of a negative quarter of GDP next year.”