Hong Kong, China stocks fall on worse-than-expected trade data out of mainland as trade war bites
- China exports plunged 4.4 per cent in December from same period last year
- Meanwhile, China doubles quota for overseas investors in country’s equities
Worse-than-expected trade data out of China sent Hong Kong and mainland stocks tumbling on Monday, highlighting the damage of the US-China trade war on the world’s second-largest economy coupled with a domestic slowdown.
The Hang Seng Index declined 1.4 per cent, or 368.94 points, to close at 26,298.33, after it recorded its biggest weekly gain since early November last week. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.7 per cent, or 18.07 points, to 2,535.77.
“We are seeing the impact of US-China trade tensions finally reflected in China’s trade data,” said Gordon Tsui Luen-on, managing director of financial advisory firm Hantec Pacific.
“We didn’t feel much of impact during the early stage because trade data was still pretty good back then. Now the data suddenly plunged so much and the market has turned more pessimistic,” Tsui said.
China’s export growth plunged 4.4 per cent in December from the same period last year, in contrast to a 2 per cent growth forecast by economists polled by Bloomberg and a 5.4 per cent rise in November.
Imports contracted with a 7.6 per cent year-on-year decline, far from the projected 4.5 per cent expansion and the 3 per cent growth recorded in the previous month.