Hong Kong, China markets turn pandemic, sanctions, recession into a momentous year for technology, auto, liquor stocks

The Shanghai Composite Index completed its first back-to-back advance since 2015, ranked among the top major markets in Asia-Pacific

Global sentiment rose to a two-year high in December as risk appetite jumped, a State Street Research report shows

Reading Time:3 minutes

A Chinese tourist taking photos in front of the "Charging Bull" sculpture in lower Manhattan in New York City. Global stocks rallied from New York to Seoul and Shanghai in 2020 as investors turned a crisis year into outsized gains. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:13am, 31 Dec 2020Updated: 11:37pm, 31 Dec 2020

Investors sent stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong to a bullish ending in 2020, generating extraordinary gains from technology firms to car and liquor producers, in a year of unprecedented turmoil in financial markets.

Equities rallied in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, heightened trade war and sanctions between the US and China, and deep recession in many major economies. China’s quick containment, its swift economic rebound, and global vaccine deployment helped shore up sentiment. Policy stimulus elsewhere fuelled risk appetite.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.7 per cent to 3,473.07 on the final day of trading in 2020, Thursday. This year’s 13.9 per cent advance, plus 22.3 per cent in 2019, capped the market’s first back-to-back winning streak since 2015.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose 1.9 per cent to 14,470.68 and the ChiNext board of start-ups surged 2.3 per cent to 2,966.26, both to record highs. They each climbed 39 and 65 per cent in 2020.

Mainland stocks ranked among the best performers in major Asia-Pacific markets, a feather in the cap in its 30-year history. South Korea’s Kospi Index topped the league with a 30.8 per cent gain, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 16 per cent and India’s BSE Sensex advanced 15.7 per cent.

The Hang Seng Index ended the year with a 3.4 per cent loss at 27,231.13, following a 9.1 per cent gain in 2019. The market rallied hard in the final three months for its best quarter since mid-2009. The Hang Seng Tech Index, however, provided a better reflection as technology stocks surged 79 per cent on a year-to-date basis.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x