
Hong Kong stock losses deepen as Ping An Insurance slides on Founder rescue plan while China markets shut for holiday
- Hang Seng Index dropped 1.3 per cent, adding to its biggest drop in a month on Friday
- Ping An Insurance slides as the Chinese insurer joins a consortium in a financial restructuring to rescue troubled Founder Group
Trading volume reached HK$96 billion (US$12.36 billion), compared to an average daily turnover of HK$135 billion last week, according to stock exchange data.
“Market sentiment remains weak. The market also lacks supporting liquidity inflows from the mainland,” said Stanley Chan, director of research at Emperor Securities. “Concerns about inflationary pressure and rising bond yields remain and continue to have some psychological impact on the markets.”
The insurer will inject as much as 50.8 billion yuan (US$7.84 billion) to take up a controlling stake in a new Founder Group unit, according to the filing. Founder Holdings soared as much as 125.5 per cent to HK$1.06 after the announcement, before paring gains to a 85.1 per cent increase to HK$0.87.
Alibaba Health Information Technology tumbled 2.5 per cent to HK$23.10, while AIA retreated 2.6 per cent to HK$96.35. China Mengniu Dairy declined 3.5 per cent to HK$40.15.
More than 40 Hong Kong stocks are still halted from trading after failing to release their 2020 earnings, the highest number in at least five years, according to a Bloomberg report. They are among 51 companies that missed an initial reporting deadline for preliminary results by the end of March.
More than 150 Hong Kong stocks halted from trading, most for missing earnings deadline, in test for market discipline
While 10 of them have since complied and resumed trading, many large companies remain suspended including solar power maker GCL-Poly Energy, bad-loan manager China Huarong Asset Management and cement-maker Asia Cement China Holdings.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific markets, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7 per cent while the S&P/ASX200 in Australia traded little changed.
