Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan jump, defying Hang Seng slump as market ignores Covid-19 vaccine developments

Hang Seng Index falls for second straight day; Shanghai Composite Index makes it three declines in a row

Pfizer vaccine receives approval to begin clinical trials in China, partner Fosun Pharma says

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The area surrounding the Colosseum in Rome is practically deserted as the government introduced a nationwide night curfew. On Wednesday, Italy’s coronavirus cases crossed 1 million, joining the 10 worst-hit countries. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:25am, 12 Nov 2020Updated: 6:26pm, 12 Nov 2020

Hong Kong stocks slipped as concerns over rising coronavirus cases globally tempered optimism surrounding the development of additional coronavirus vaccines. Technology giants, however, bucked the trend, clawing back some of their losses following an overnight rally in the US.

The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2 per cent to 26,169.38. The benchmark fell 0.3 per cent on Wednesday from a four-month high. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1 per cent for its third consecutive days of declines.

Italy, one of the European countries hit hardest by Covid-19, crossed the one-million infections mark on Wednesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. And Britain became the fifth country in the world to record more than 50,000 coronavirus-related deaths. More than 51.9 million people around the world have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and over 1.28 million have died.

“For stock market concerns, I would think that the negative from the current wave of Covid, no matter how bad this wave is, will eventually be overpowered by the positive of vaccine optimism because the recent surge is temporary,” said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi.

He added that challenges remain as a vaccine will not come soon enough to inoculate the world from the current spike in Covid-19 cases.