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Hong Kong and China markets fall amid Covid-19 concerns even as data shows China’s economic recovery has broadened

  • Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7 per cent on Tuesday, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1 per cent
  • Chinese retail sales and industrial production rose in November, latest data shows

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A ‘Stop the spread of coronavirus’ sign in Covent Garden in London. Photo: Bloomberg
Martin Choi

Hong Kong and China markets fell on Tuesday, as investors weighed concerns about increasing Covid-19 deaths, infections and lockdowns around the world against the roll-out of coronavirus vaccines.

The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7 per cent to 26,207.29 for its second consecutive day of declines, having fallen 0.4 per cent on Monday. The Shanghai Composite also fell, paring gains of as much as 0.6 per cent to decline by 0.1 per cent. It recorded gains of 0.7 per cent on Monday.

New waves of the pandemic have forced Germany, the Netherlands and London back into stricter lockdowns over the Christmas holidays, while cases in Japan and South Korea have also surged, according to Reuters.

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More than 1,000 cases of a new variant of the coronavirus have been identified in England. The government in the United Kingdom also said that London will move into England’s highest tier of Covid-19 restrictions, because of an exponential rise in infection rates.
In the United States, the first coronavirus vaccinations were administered on Monday, hours before the number of Americans killed by Covid-19 passed 300,000.

01:56

First Covid-19 vaccine administered as US death toll passes 300,000

First Covid-19 vaccine administered as US death toll passes 300,000

“Positive vaccine news has been a game changer for markets. We now know we are building a bridge to somewhere, providing clarity for policymakers, households and companies about getting to a post Covid-19 stage. Yet, disappointing jobs data in recent weeks points to near-term risks, as the virus surges around the US, potentially slowing the restart,” analysts led by Jean Boivin, head of BlackRock Investment Institute, said in a note.

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