Hong Kong stocks plunge more than 1,100 points as collapsing oil market adds to the woes of a widening coronavirus outbreak

Hang Seng Index plunges by as much as 4.3 per cent, in its biggest one-day decline in more than two years

Stock indexes tumble in Asia, from Seoul to Wellington; Alibaba sees worst fall since Hong Kong secondary listing on November 26

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A man with a mask inside the Shanghai Stock Exchange building at the Pudong financial district in Shanghai on February 28, 2020. Contrary to global conventions, China’s stock market represents losses and declines in green, using the colour red to denote advances and gains. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:07am, 9 Mar 2020Updated: 5:12pm, 25 Oct 2020

The benchmark stock index of Asia’s third-largest financial market posted its biggest percentage drop in more than two years, as plunging oil prices added to the weight of a spreading coronavirus outbreak in driving more investors to clear their holdings.

The Hang Seng Index fell 4.2 per cent at its close to 25,040.46, bringing its decline to 11.2 per cent for the year. Hong Kong’s stock rout spilled over to every other major Asian market, with benchmarks slumping from Seoul to Wellington.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets also fell, with their benchmark indexes each slumping by more than 3 per cent to the lowest in months. The CSI 300 index, which tracks stock prices in both markets, plunged by 3.2 per cent to 3,997.13.

“I expect the market to be extremely volatile in the near future, [proving] that our wait-and-see suggestion is correct,” said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai.

“Technically, the Hang Seng Index may have further downside. I suggest that investors should trim their exposures until we have a rebound later.”

Investors took flight after global oil prices plunged to a four-year low, after members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia failed to agree on joint production curbs through the end of 2020. Saudi Arabia promptly slashed its crude prices, stoking price war concerns, with crude oil futures declining by as much as 30 per cent at one point in the worst single-day decline since the 2008 global economic crisis.

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