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Louise Moon

Gigi Choy

Deb Price

Good morning, traders --
The Hang Seng had another 1,000-plus point fall, ending down nearly 5 per cent. China stocks fell as well.
Catch up on the day's action below.
And, hey, are you getting your Live Stocks Blog every morning via email? You can! Don't miss out on our coverage of Hong Kong and mainland markets each trading day! If you would like the Live Stocks Blog emailed to you each morning, click here.
-- Louise Moon, Deb Price and Gigi Choy
Note: Information in this blog is on an "as is" basis and not a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or otherwise; and is not investment/professional advice or services in this regard.  It is subject to our T&C.  SCMP (as defined in T&C) shall not be liable for any loss, damage and costs relating to any investments in securities or otherwise in this connection.


Hong Kong stocks plunge to level not seen since 2016 as worries grow world is falling into recession over coronavirus

Funeral service workers push a coffin to place in a boat after a mass at the Murano island in Venice, Italy, on March 3, 2020. Photo: Associated Press 


Business


Global death toll rises to more than 14,500
US Congress working on US$1.8 trillion stimulus plan in anticipation of huge job losses



Lockdowns in the US aimed at the coronavirus will likely last 10 to 12 weeks --  to about early June -- U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News Sunday. “The good news is the US economy is strong,” he said. 


Hong Kong stock market

Live

Overnight markets/what futures foretell
-- In Friday trading, the US indices continued their losses. The S&P 500 shed 4.4 per cent, the Dow Jones fell 4.5 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.8 per cent. Europe’s Stoxx 50 Index climbed 1.42 per cent.
-- Hong Kong futures were 6.2 per cent lower, while the FTSE China A50 futures fell 5.2 per cent.
IPO debuts: InnoCare Pharma Ltd (9969 HK) will start trading in Hong Kong. Zhangjiagang Elegant Home-Tech (603221 CH) will debut in Shanghai.
Economic statistics/central bank action: Hong Kong will release its year-on-year CPI (consumer price index) Composite for February, at 16:30. Estimated gains of 1.6 per cent, compared to January’s 1.4 per cent.


Morning guidance

“Compared with past bear markets, we need to pay very close attention to whether this time will lead to a systemic financial crisis. Market sentiment and new confirmed cases of infection are those indicators,” said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai.
“We are not at a bottom yet. My previous [HSI] targets were 23,000 and 21,000. But now it seems they are not the bottom,”  he added.
“This is quite different compared with 2015 [when China’s markets melted down] or 9/11. With no medicine for the virus, monetary policy may only create further worry.”
-- Deb Price 


Not at a bottom yet in Hong Kong, says analyst Kenny Wen

Fashion brand Esprit Holdings (0033 HK) has halted trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, as of 9am this morning, pending the release of inside information, it said in a filing.
Two other companies have also halted trading: elderly home operator Pine Care Group (1989 HK), and hospitality and management contract and engineering firm South Shore Holdings (0577 HK).
-- Louise Moon


Esprit Holdings halts trading

The Hang Seng drops 5 per cent at the open, to 21,659.55.
In the mainland, the Shanghai Composite shed 2.5 per cent at open, to 2,677.59, while the CSI 300 of large caps lost 3 per cent to 3,542.68. The Nasdaq-style ChiNext also lost 2.9 per cent, to 1,859.43.
-- Louise Moon 


Hang Seng falls 5 per cent; China stocks drop as well

Tencent (700 HK) opened down 3.6 per cent to HK$346.60, while Alibaba (9988 HK) fell 5.2 per cent to HK$173.40.
-- Gigi Choy


Alibaba falls more than 5 per cent

The mother of all grizzly bears is mauling stock portfolios around the globe.
Many investors – grappling with stocks that have been ripped to pieces in just weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic – have been left shell-shocked. Their anxious question: When will this bear go back into hibernation?
Just about everybody – from mom-and-pop investors to seasoned pros – agrees the bottom hasn’t been reached. But no one knows when it will be.
“Everyone is looking for a bottom,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific for foreign exchange company OANDA. “The coronavirus recession has the potential to be with us for a long time to come. And there is no playbook in modern times for an event like this on this scale. Not even Sars.”
Read full story here. 


Mother of all grizzly bears mauling stock markets

Healthcare products distribution company Shunten International (932 HK) rose 3.1 per cent to HK$0.49 in morning trading, after announcing it has entered into a joint venture agreement with a firm named Devinadia to cooperate in novel coronavirus testing service in China. Its new share price brought it back to levels last seen in early March.
The aim is to provide health and clinical testing, in a health management service plan that responds China National Health Commission’s announcement that all employers and schools have staff and students tested for Covid-19 before they can resume work or studying.  
Under the JV, the companies will establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in Chongqing City, southwestern China, and may have other subsidiaries elsewhere in China, Hong Kong and other jurisdictions, it said in a filing to the stock exchange on Sunday evening. It will hvae a share capital of HK$10 million, with just over half provided by Shunten, and the rest by Devinadia. This is reflected in the ownership of the JV, with Shunten owning 51 per cent of what will be its subsidiary.
In February, Devinadia entered into a cooperation agreement with two partners who are subsidiaries of state-owned enterprises in health and clinical testing industries, the filing said.
-- Louise Moon 


Shunten International rises on JV announcement

Jefferies cut Macau's casino gross gaming revenue to reflect the global slowdown, with social distancing norms and travel restrictions leading the slow recovery to continue into the second quarter of 2020.
The investment bank expects 2020 to be marginally profitable for Macau gaming stocks after cutting earnings by an average 78 per cent, with forecasts below consensus.
It said recovery is based on travel restrictions easing, which is dependent on "clean Covid-19 free days".
Of the top 10 Chinese regions for Macau visitors, six have recently reported new cases, according to Jefferies.
Macau announced more Covid-19 cases over the weekend, taking the city's total to 23 infections. The bank, therefore, believes visa restriction easing could be delayed.
Jefferies still prefers Sands China and MGM China.
Sands China (1928 HK) slid 6.1 per cent to HK$26.95, while MGM China (2282 HK) fell 6.2 per cent to HK$7.92.
-- Gigi Choy


Jefferies cuts Macau casino gross gaming revenue on virus

According to Michael Hood, global strategist for multi-asset solutions at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the market downturn will likely follow a V-shaped curve, with “the characteristics of services sectors suggesting that the stark plunge in activity could eventually turn into a relatively fast recovery.”     “The current environment, where services industries are contracting at unprecedented rates, is uncharted territory, and thus we would not necessarily expect the usual patterns for growth and employment to hold,” he said.     Impacts at the outset will be very deep,  “given the sheer size of services employment,” he said, and support of sufficient size and targeted scope is needed, “to prevent the sudden stop in services from metastasizing into a broader and much more prolonged slump.     Hood said it is too early to start buying into equity market weakness.
-- Louise Moon


Too early to buy into equity weakness, says J.P. Morgan Asset Management

InnoCare Pharma (9969 HK) shares rose 5.9 per cent to HK$9.48 from an initial offering price at HK$8.95.
The China-based company develops and commercialises drug treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Certain subsidiaries of the company have received government grants to support research and development.
But InnoCare Pharma warned that it had incurred significant net losses and net operating cash outflows since it was founded in 2015, and anticipate that it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future and may never become profitable.The company's drug candidates are all in pre-clinical or clinical development.
-- Gigi Choy


Innocare shares jump in Hong Kong debut

Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 7.5 per cent.
Seoul’s Kospi plunged 4.8 per cent, and the tech-heavy Kosdaq fell 4.5 per cent.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.8 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 plummeted 7 per cent, while New Zealand’s S&P/NZX50 fell 10.2 per cent, as prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the country would go into lockdown.   
-- Gigi Choy


Asia-Pacific markets plunge

Flooring manufacturer Zhangjiagang Elegant Home-Tech (603221 CH) shot up by the debut limit of 44 per cent in its first day on the Shanghai stock exchange to 18.58 yuan.
The company – based in Suzhou, west of Shanghai – listed at a price of 12.90 yuan per share, with 60 million on offer.  -- Louise Moon


Zhangjiagang Elegant Home-Tech shoots up on debut day in Shanghai

Pharmaceutical stocks are on fire on the mainland during morning trading.
Among them, Shanghai-listed Northeast Pharmaceutical Group (000597 CH) and Fuan Pharmaceutical Group (300194), both shot up by just under the daily limit of 10 per cent, to 7.83 yuan and 5.85 yuan respectively.
Guangdong Zhongsheng Pharmaceutical (002317 CH) gained 4.6 per cent to 12.85 yuan, while Hunan Er-Kang Pharmaceutical (300267 CH) rose 4 per cent to 4.65 yuan.
-- Louise Moon


Mainland pharmas rising high

German leader Angela Merkel is under self-quarantine as a precaution for Covid-19, while Italy’s death rate has reached an all-time high of 9.3 per cent. Both countries have further tightened restrictions on social life.
Europe continues to struggle with how to prevent a collapse of the health care system, of which Italy has been on the verge. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stopped short of a lockdown but hinted that interventions could come “at the moment they can have the maximum effect”.
Germans were thrown in a state of shock as their leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, had to be put under self-quarantine because she had been in touch with a doctor tested positive to the coronavirus.
“Even from domestic quarantine, the chancellor will continue her official business”, her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.
Read full story here. 


Germany’s Merkel in self-quarantine after contact with doctor with virus

The Philippines Stock Exchange fell 3.5 per cent to 4,609.79.
The Philippines was the first country to shut its financial markets because of the coronavirus pandemic last week.
Trading was suspended for two days beginning on March 17 before they were reopened.
The Philippines is under strict quarantine measures.
-- Gigi Choy


Philippines continues to fall after experiment to temporarily close market

A Boeing employee has died from coronavirus, according to the Seattle Times, in a first for the company.
The man worked in Everett, Washington, and had been on life support in intensive care. His brother issued a plea for the aeroplane maker to shut down, via Facebook on Saturday.
The Nasdaq-listed company has 29 confirmed cases. It closed on Friday down 2.8 per cent to US$95.01.
Washington is one of the hardest-hit states in the US by the virus. 
-- Louise Moon


First coronavirus death at Boeing

Investment bank Credit Suisse has said the market sell-off is not likely to be over, given the evolution of Covid-19, and its economic consequences, in a note today.
  The Swiss bank thinks it is “premature” to move into equities, as equity markets are still reacting to the pandemic situation, and the effect on underlying fundamental stock values continues to be highly uncertain.
  The next two-to-four weeks will be “crucial”, it said, to know if lockdowns are effective in containing the virus, and how financial markets are reacting to central banks’ stimulus measures so far.
-- Louise Moon


Too early to dive back in, says Credit Suisse

Hang Seng falls 3.7 per cent; Shanghai down 1.6 per cent

The Hang Seng made back some initial losses to close the morning session down 3.75 per cent to 21,949.30.
High turnover Alibaba Group (9988 HK), and insurers Ping An (2318 HK) and AIA (1299 HK), which each fell 3.7 per cent.
Among others, the HKEX (0388 HK) -- which runs the exchange -- shed 4.4 per cent, and smartphone manufacturer Sunny Optical (2382 HK) lost 5.8 per cent.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite paused for lunch down 1.6 per cent to 2,701.73, while the CSI 300 of large caps had dropped 1.88 per cent ot 3,584.23. 
--Louise Moon


Hong Kong and China claw back some losses, but still down at midday break

Bloomberg Economics lowered its Hong Kong growth forecast for 2020, projecting a record 11.2 per cent contraction in the first quarter because of the worsening global economy and weakening external demand for the city's services.
That is revised down from an expected 8.5 per cent contraction before the coronavirus outbreak in Western economies, which would be worse than the 8.3 per cent contraction Hong Kong suffered in the Asian financial crisis, Bloomberg economist Qian Wan said in a note.
-- Gigi Choy


Bloomberg cuts Hong Kong’s 2020 growth forecast due to coronavirus pandemic

InnoCare Pharma (9969 HK) became the first initial public offering to make its debut through a virtual listing ceremony in Hong Kong's stock exchange.
Its shares jumped 11.1 per cent to HK$9.94, despite the Hang Seng Index falling 3.7 per cent.
 
A warm welcome to #InnoCare, the first #biotech firm on #HKEX’s markets in 2020! Check out the highlights of its #virtual listing ceremony this morning. pic.twitter.com/FuC98ez1re
  — HKEX 香港交易所 (@HKEXGroup) March 23, 2020
-- Gigi Choy


Chinese biotech firm bangs virtual gong, in a first in Hong Kong for a debut

Hang Seng losses deepen: down 4.3 per cent to 21,835.62

Lockdowns in the US aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus will likely last 10 to 12 weeks --  or until early June -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday on Fox News.
  “The good news is the US economy is strong,” Mnuchin said. 
He called the US$1.8 trillion anti-virus package -- it keeps growing -- the US Congress is working on a “bridge” to help businesses and workers get through this unprecedented turmoil. He said President Donald Trump expects the world’s largest economy will look much better in four to eight weeks.
“This isn’t the financial crisis that is going to go on for years,” Mnuchin said.
Watch the latest video at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com">foxnews.com</a>
-- Deb Price 


Things will look better in months, not years, says US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin

Aggressive steps by global central banks to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic have failed to reassure equity and credit markets, according to a note from T. Rowe Price.
The asset management firm said this has put pressure on governments to come up with a more emphatic fiscal response to the crisis.
"At present, monetary solutions rank lower than health solutions, meaning that any central bank action can only limit damage in the economic sphere," T. Rowe Price analysts said in the note.
It added that return to market stability in the near term depends on convincing evidence that authorities are implementing sufficient measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus and that places that have adopted draconian measures to contain the virus protect against a new wave of infections.
"The outcome for economies very much depends on the extent to which government safety nets can take over from central banks and underwrite huge swaths of private sector risk. The consequences of this for public sector finances are obvious and may well ultimately herald the true end of a 40‑year bull market for government bonds," the firm said.
-- Gigi Choy


Central banks’ response to ease coronavirus crisis not enough, T. Rowe Price analysts say

Goldman Sachs has lowered its 2020 earnings growth for Asia Pacific companies from adding 1 per cent to losing 14 per cent, according to an AAStocks.com article. 
Consensus earnings for these firms had already pulled back by 6 percentage points on January 17, but the firm expects further downgrades on earnings.
It highlighted those with strong balance sheets and who were implementing “stay at home” policies, as well as ones that had shares with stable growth and solid dividends.
-- Louise Moon


Goldman lowers earnings expectations for APAC companies

Semiconductor firms in China and Hong Kong are sinking amid the wider, continued market sell-off.
On the mainland, electronics component maker Shenzhen Yitoa Intelligent Control (300131 CH) and Wuxi Taiji Industry (600667 CH) both fell by the daily limit of 10 per cent, to 6.59 yuan and 11.78 yuan, respectively.
In Hong Kong, Sunny Optical (2382 HK) lost 6.3 per cent to HK$96.50,
Among Apple suppliers in China, Luxshare Precision Industry (002475 CH) plunged 9.11 per cent to 34.74 yuan, and GoerTek Inc (002241 CH) lost 8.23 per cent to 15.62 yuan.
AAC Technologies (2018 HK), which derives half of its revenue from Apple, fell 5.7 per cent to HK$36.70.
-- Louise Moon


Semiconductors swept along by the sell-off

While the Great Financial Crisis was a financial crisis that flowed into the real economy via reduced lending, this time “it is a purely exogenous shock, which is a serious health matter, and has required draconian real world responses” which are transmitting back into the financial system, said Paul Colwell, senior director for investments, and head of advisory portfolio group, Asia, at brokerage and advisory firm Willis Towers Watson.
“Given the severity of the situation, and the rapid sell-off, the impact on the person on the street, this crisis feels worse – on a human level, but also on a financial level,” he said.
  Colwell thinks it could take months, rather than weeks, before volatility subsides.
“Usually a market bottom comes when market participants are exhausted, fear is at its highest, and valuations become significantly mispriced relative to what might be expected in a recovery. However, knowing when we’re at the bottom and how quickly markets rebound are difficult to judge”.
-- Louise Moon


Market crisis feels worse than 2008 financial crisis, says Willis Towers Watson analyst

China would enter into a bear market if the Shanghai Composite Index closes below 2,617.54.
This afternoon, it is down 2.4 per cent at 2,679.
China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen markets are the only major global ones not in a bear market.   


Shanghai nearing bear market

Beijing-based oil and gas firm China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec (386 HK), fell 3.7 per cent in afternoon trading, to HK$3.36, reversing earlier gains.
This came despite it recording an 11.1 per cent increase in revenue for 2019, to 52 billion yuan, and a 30 per cent gain in net profit, to 2 billion yuan.
The gain in revenue was mainly due to several projects entering “peak execution”  during the year, it said in a filing to the stock exchange on Sunday evening.
Oil prices have been falling in recent weeks.  Government lockdowns to control the spread of Covid-19 have weakened demand for oil. An oil price war also erupted between producers Russia and Saudi Arabia, sending prices down.
-- Louise Moon


Increase in revenue fails to help Sinopec amid oil industry disaster

US markets could fall another 10 per cent to 15 per cent, with the potential for the S&P 500 to reach 1,900 to 2,000 points, according to Nemo Qin, analyst at social trading and multi-asset brokerage company eToro.
Stock markets globally will continue to tumble over coronavirus, he said, and might only hit a bottom when the World Health Organisation (WHO), or central governments announce a pandemic situation is under control.
“In other words, we need to see less confirmed cases day after day,” said Qin. “My biggest worry would be that the pandemic could last long enough to affect everyday life and cause another Great Depression for many countries for years.”
-- Louise Moon


eToro: US markets will continue tumbling until no new cases

Shipping company Cosco Shipping International (517 HK) posted a 16 per cent gain in net profit for 2019, when compared to the previous year, to HK$330 million, due to an increase in finance income and increase in share of profits from Hong Kong shipowner Jotun COSCO Marine Coatings and oil supplier Double Rich, according to an exchange filing.
  Jotun and COSCO have had a joint venture since 2005, as China’s top marine coating supplier, while Double Rich provides COCO with fuel oil with low sulphur content.
COSCO’s revenue fell by 66 per cent, compared to 2018, to HK$3.3 billion, due to a decrease in revenue of marine fuel and other products, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
  The firm said the outbreak of Covid-19 is a “challenging situation”, and the company has taken “all possible effective measures” to limit and keep the impact under control, without further details.
  Its stock was down 1.7 per cent in afternoon trading, to HK$1.76.
-- Louise Moon


COSCO see boost in net profit for 2019, but revenue plunged

The ChiNext index of smaller companies has become the first major gauge of onshore Chinese stocks that has closed in bear market territory.
The gauge slumped 4.6 per cent at the close today, taking its decline to 20 per cent from a February high.
-- Zhang Shidong


ChiNext gauge of small-caps technically enters bear market

Bloomberg Intelligence said the vacancy spike in Hong Kong's prime office space could weaken landlords' bargaining power, accelerating the fall in rents during 2Q and 3Q.
It added that the pandemic-fuelled stock market plunge is likely to keep pressure on office rents.
Office rents in Hong Kong’s Central district were the world’s most expensive commercial property market for a fourth-straight year in 2019.
-- Gigi Choy


Decline in Hong Kong’s office rentals to accelerate, Bloomberg Intelligence says

The Shanghai Composite closed down 3.1 per cent at 2,660.17, touching its lowest level since February 2019. The benchmark has lost over 12 per cent so far this month.
Meanwhile the CSI 300 of large caps lost 3.4 per cent to 3,530.31.
-- Louise Moon


Shanghai Composite closes with 3.1 decline

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA says risk aversion appears here to stay:
“Global equities got off to another terrible start after Democrats blocked the Senate’s coronavirus economic response rescue package,” he said in a new note today. “Risk aversion appears here to stay as investors become more fearful that this could be the worst global recession during peacetime.  
“Volatility was supposed to start to calm down as central banks unleash a wrath of liquidity programs and stimulus, but coronavirus updates in Europe and the US continue to suggest we are nowhere near being out of the woods or even close enough to guess on when that could potentially be. 
“Every passing day it seems lockdown efforts are intensified globally, thus it seems financial markets will remain nervous until we see the infection rate improve in both US and Europe.  Now that the US finally made some progress in delivering testing for the virus, markets could see in a few weeks if the lockdown efforts were successful enough in delaying the hitting of health-care capacity.  Circuit breakers have become far to common over the past four volatile trading weeks and will probably be used again this week.”
-- Deb Price   


Risk aversion here to stay, says analyst Edward Moya

China Gas (384 HK) rose 1.44 per cent in trading, to HK$24.60, after being raised to a “hold” by Daiwa Research.
The research house issued a lower price target of HK$25, from HK$26.50.
It was trading up 1 per cent at HK$24.55.
Daiwa said it remains cautious about the firm’s profitability due to the outbreak of coronavirus and its rural gas model, but said negatives have been priced in after a 20 per cent year-to-date price correction.
Daiwa also raised China Resources Power Holdings (836 HK), to a “buy,” and lowered its target price from HK$11 to HK$9.
  The research house said the power generator company’s share price has corrected 48 per cent since March and, based on assumed reporting of HK$6 billion in earnings with the payout ratio cut to 30 per cent, Daiwa thinks it will achieve a 5 per cent dividend yield at the current share price level.
The subsidiary of China Resource Holdings gained 3.8 per cent to HK$7.69.
-- Louise Moon


Daiwa Research positive on China Resources Power Holdings

Brock Silvers, managing director at Adamas Asset Management, says we’re in for a rough ride ahead as volatility continues.
“We’re in for a rough economic period until the pandemic is controlled and economies re-open, and there’s probably little we can do until that point,” he said.
“The bottom seems impossible to gauge, as the market is being driven by outside factors. Central banks seem impotent for the same reasons. The fear of viral pandemic, and the resulting economic disruption, simply can’t be mitigated by lower rates,” he said. 
“I generally find China and Hong Kong uncompelling right now, as even should corona disappear, the underlying economies are still troubled. The US has a higher probability for a quicker turnaround, and buying US quality seems like a sound bottom-up strategy,” Silvers said.
-- Deb Price


Expect the volatility to continue, says analyst Brock Silvers

European stock indexes are set to slump, following Asia Pacific markets today.
German DAX futures fell 3.89 per cent, the Euro Stoxx 50 futures dropped 3.54 per cent, Italian MIB futures lost 5.46 per cent and British FTSE 100 futures shed 1.62 per cent.
-- Louise Moon


European stock futures down

Seoul’s Kospi closed down 5.3 per cent, and the tech-heavy Kosdaq fell 5.1 per cent.
But the Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 2 per cent. Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe on Monday morning told parliament he is open to postponing the Olympics if health concerns require it.
The Australian Olympic Committee has also told athletes to prepare for a 12-month postponement of the Tokyo Games. Canada said its athletes won’t go unless the sporting event is postponed.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 plummeted 5.6 per cent, while New Zealand’s S&P/NZX50 fell 7.6 per cent, as prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the country would go into lockdown.
The Philippines Stock Exchange fell 0.7 per cent.
Also, Singapore’s Straits Times Index is down 7.9 per cent. 
-- Gigi Choy


Asia markets plunge -- Australia, Singapore down more than 7 per cent

Hong Kong property stocks fell, along with the Hang Seng Index.
Among the top losers, China Evergrande (3333 HK) dropped 16.7 per cent to HK$9.96; Soho China (410 HK) lost 10.6 per cent to HK$3.3; CK Asset (1113 HK) shed 9.5 per cent to HK$35.35, and Country Garden (2007 HK)  tumbled 7.9 per cent to HK$7.87.
-- Louise Moon


Property slides in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 4.8 per cent and closed at 21,696.13. That was its lowest level since December 2016.
The majority of stocks were down, with banks, insurers and semiconductors among some of the worst hit.
Insurer AIA (1299 HK) fell 5.3 per cent to HK$61.50, while HSBC Holdings (5 HK) lost 6 per cent to HK$44.20.
-- Louise Moon


Hong Kong closes at lowest level since December 2016

Hong Kong will amend the law to ban the sale of alcohol at 8,600 bars, clubs and restaurants in a move to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the city's leader said at a 3.30pm press conference.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also said all foreign tourist and transit arrivals will be barred from entering Hong Kong for 14 days beginning on Wednesday. The travel restrictions do not apply to non-Hong Kong residents coming from Macau, Taiwan and mainland China, who will be subject to quarantine upon arrival.
Read full story here. 


Hong Kong to ban alcohol sales at pubs, restaurants, plus overseas tourists

The fall in the Hang Seng Index was mostly driven by a Reuters report that Softbank is selling up to 4.5 trillion yen (US$41 billion) in assets to buy back 2 trillion yen of its shares and reduce debt, according to Alan Li, portfolio manager at Atta Capital.
"Softbank is the substantial shareholder of many unicorns and tech giants, like Alibaba, Uber and WeWork. Those listed company share prices may face huge selling pressure. For those unlisted companies, Softbank will likely withdraw the upcoming round of fundraising," Li said. "If the funding cost of Wework goes up, commercial rent will get hurt, and impact may further transfer to REIT and their bonds."
-- Deb Price and Gigi Choy
