Hong Kong again proves itself to be the comeback town, as Hang Seng Index sees 9 per cent gain in roller-coaster 2019
- Shanghai beats Hang Seng, posting a 22 per cent yearly gain
- Hong Kong keeps crown as the world’s largest initial public offering market
Hong Kong’s stock market was hammered by the US-China trade war, violent protests and the mainland’s economic slowdown. But it came roaring back, gaining 9.1 per cent in 2019 and keeping the crown as the world’s largest initial public offering market.
“It was a fruitful year amid uncertainty,” said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai. “A high single digit return for (the Hang Seng Index) is better than expected. Some bearish analysts expected the HSI might fall to 22,000 in 2019.”
The Hang Seng Index said goodbye to the roller-coaster year at 28,189.75 points, with half-day trading that saw a 0.5 per cent decline. It ended 2018 – a miserable year in which it lost 13.6 per cent – at 25,845.70 points.
Still, the Hang Seng’s yearly performance was trounced by that of the Shanghai Composite Index.
The Shanghai Composite Index finished 2019 with a yearly gain of 22 per cent. That followed a 24.6 per cent fall in 2018, with the main gauge closing at 2,493.90.
On its final trading day, the Shanghai benchmark rose 0.3 per cent to 3,050.