Hong Kong stocks slide as a resurgence in coronavirus cases shakes optimism for swift economic recovery
- Hang Seng Index completes a third straight day of decline as coronavirus cases surpass 10 million globally since outbreak
- China’s industrial profits rose last month for the first time since November, may support buying in mainland stocks
The Hang Seng Index closed 1 per cent lower to 24,301.28 on Monday, its third straight day of losses. Only seven out of 50 index components eked out gains. The Shanghai Composite Index ended the day with a 0.6 per cent decline to 2,961.52, snapping a two-day winning streak.
“People are worried that economic opening globally would not be easy and economic recovery may be weak because of the rebound of coronavirus after [recent] economic reopening,” said Stanley Chan, director of research at Emperor Securities. “Investors are re-evaluating the risks to the stock market.”
In today’s market actions, consumer discretionary and information technology stocks led the pullback in Hong Kong, while Chinese stock brokerages suffered a sell-off on reports the government will give new licenses to local banks to compete with them.
Geely Automobile declined 2.9 per cent. Sunny Optical Technology shed 2.5 per cent. AAC Technologies fell 2.2 per cent. Index heavyweight Tencent Holdings gained 0.2 per cent. Techtronic Industries rose 1.1 per cent. China Construction Bank gained 1.1 per cent.