Hong Kong stock market weighed down by international sentiment but still operating ‘in line with expectations’, John Lee says

Chief Executive John Lee says market shows no signs of abnormalities and is operating ‘in line with expectations’

Hang Seng Index rallied on Tuesday morning after dipping below 15,000-point mark previous day

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A display of Hang Seng Index in Pottinger Street, Central. It plunged to a 15-month low on Monday. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 1:43pm, 23 Jan 2024Updated: 7:50pm, 23 Jan 2024

Hong Kong’s stock market has been weighed down by weak international sentiment but is operating “in line with expectations” and has global appeal, the city’s leader has said, after its benchmark index plunged to a 15-month low.

The Hang Seng Index rallied on Tuesday morning after dipping below the 15,000-point mark the previous day.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the market showed no signs of abnormalities, but pointed to the wider environment of uncertainty across the world.

Chief Executive John Lee says the city’s stock market is operating “in line with expectations”. Photo: Jelly Tse

“High interest rates, complexity in geopolitics, uncertainty in the supply chain and the transport of some goods, and the market’s different reactions to changes in the US election [prospects] … have all made the market very sensitive,” Lee said before his weekly Executive Council meeting.

“When the market is highly sensitive, we of course hope that investors will pay careful attention to the changes in the market to make any decisions,” he added, stressing that regulators closely monitoring the markets found them operating “in line with expectations”.

Lee said the city remained an international financial centre, full of competitiveness and appeal. He added it was benefiting from the free flow of capital, transparency, a level playing field and an established regulatory regime, which all showed the health of the financial markets.

Lee added Monday’s meeting between Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng and HSBC Group chairman Mark Tucker in Beijing further indicated the country’s staunch support of the city’s efforts in cementing its position as a global financial hub.