* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 4.4%, Shanghai->HK daily quota used 2.2%
* HSI -0.6%, HSCE -0.5%, CSI300 -0.9%
* FTSE China A50 -0.7%
April 24 (Reuters) – Hong Kong stocks slipped on Friday to finish the week lower, tracking other Asian markets, spurred by doubts about progress in developing drugs to treat COVID-19 and new evidence of U.S. economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
** The Hang Seng index fell 0.6%, to 23,831.33, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.5%, to 9,656.19 points.
** U.S. business activity plumbed record lows in April, mirroring dire figures from Europe and Asia as strict stay-at-home orders crushed production, supply chains and consumer spending, a survey showed.
** Corporate earnings of Hong Kong listed companies were generally worse than expected, which could dampen the room for a valuations recovery in Hong Kong equities, brokerage Cinda International noted in report.
** Investors need to pay attention to the implementation China’s fiscal and monetary policies, as boosting domestic demand would become a policy focus given the uncertain global economic outlook, the brokerage added.
** China’s central bank cut the interest rate on its targeted medium-term lending facility (TMLF) on Friday, following similar reductions to borrowing costs on other liquidity tools in the past few weeks to support the economy.
** In the latest bid to bolster domestic consumption, China announced a plan to extend subsidies for buying NEVs to 2022, and tax exemptions on purchases for two years.
(Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)