[ET Net News Agency, 1 March 2021] Morgan Stanley lowered its target price for HKEX
(00388) to HK$485 from HK$580 and downgraded its rating to "equal-weight" from
"overweight".
The research house said the tightening expectation could fluctuate over time, but the
under-captured business activities in China reflected via payment and wealth data could
also drive tightening expectations to the upside.
In addition, Morgan said the planned stamp duty hike that could be effective in August -
when rate rise expectations build further - may also be a factor to delay the pace of
velocity increase in Hong Kong, which is partly evidenced by lower Southbound flows in
recent days.
Morgan reduced its average velocity assumptions further for 2021 and 2022, by 5% and
10%, respectively. (KL)