Bears trumped the bulls, as Chinese shares fell even if the latest HSBC/Markit PMI data for services showed that the sector remained buoyant. Hong Kong though swam against the tide and was up nearly 1%. Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li has ordered an investigation on the cruise ship accident that so far has claimed the lives of seven people.
China’s services sector alive and well in May. According to HSBC and Markit, the China Services PMI rose to 53.5 last month, an eight-month high, versus 52.9 in April. That was the fourth straight month that the index has accelerated. MarketWatch/Reuters
Chinese Premier Li Kequiang orders probe on cruise ship’s sinking. Of the 458 passengers, 14 have been rescued so far and seven have been confirmed dead. Bad weather has been blamed on why the boat, carrying mostly elderly passengers, capsized. The ship’s captain and chief engineer, rescued earlier, said a tornado had struck the ship. Bloomberg
Chinese shares fall, Hong Kong up. Investors largely ignored the promising services data, causing the Shanghai Composite Index to decline 1.02% at the mid-day break, while the CSI300 index lost 1.23%. The Hang Seng Index though beat the bears, rising 0.7%. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.3%. CNBC
Don’t blame the hackers. The inability of United Airlines flights to take off for nearly an hour was not caused by “an outside entity,” according to the airline’s spokesperson. The airline didn’t explain further why it believed that the disruption in its flights were not caused by hackers, though it won’t say if it was due to a computer glitch, human error, or a deliberate act. The mystery deepens. Quartz/Wired
Photo credit: tefl Search via Flickr