Hong Kong stocks sink as Ukraine war damages nuclear plant while Bilibili plunges 13 per cent on widening losses
- Benchmark index fell for a third week, the longest losing streak since December, as war in Ukraine escalated with a hit on nuclear power plant
- Leading trio of Alibaba, Tencent and Meituan tumbled by 3.7 per cent to 5.4 per cent as tech benchmark lost more than 4 per cent; Bilibili plunges 13 per cent
The Hang Seng Index slumped 2.5 per cent to 21,905.29 at the close of Friday trading, taking the five-day drop to 3.8 per cent. The three-week retreat is the longest streak since December. The Tech Index sank 4.4 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1 per cent.
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and AAC Technologies were among 12 index members to post new 52-week lows, according to Bloomberg data. Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and Meituan lost by 3.7 per cent to 5.4 per cent. Concerns about Beijing tightening its grip on the industry added to the poor sentiment.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped by as much as 3 per cent. Flight to safety continued, keeping gold futures at a one-year high. Crude oil futures traded near US$111 a barrel after surging past US$100 last month for the first time since 2014.
“Given the intensified geopolitical tensions and jitters about a fresh round of regulatory scrutiny of the tech sector, the pressure on Hong Kong stocks remains,” said Hayman Chiu, an analyst at Cinda International in Hong Kong. The city’s stocks could test new lows, he added.
The Hang Seng Index has fallen 6.4 per cent this year in what could be the worst quarterly start to a year since 2020. More than US$132 billion has been erased from Asia’s third-largest market this year, making it among the world’s cheapest.
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“Investors are moving away from riskier assets,” said Matt Simpson, an analyst at City Index in Sydney. “This will likely be a key theme heading into the European and US [trading] session, to see how world leaders respond.”
Video-streaming platform operator Bilibili plunged 13 per cent to a record low after fourth-quarter losses widened from a year ago. Electric-vehicle maker BYD lost 8.6 per cent after sales dropped by 5 per cent in February from a month earlier. Its Shenzhen-listed shares sank 4.7 per cent.
Bottled water maker Nongfu Spring dropped 4.2 per cent and PC maker Lenovo Group slumped 6.6 per cent before they join the Hang Seng Index family on Monday.
