Investors keep dumping Alibaba, HSBC as Hong Kong stocks limp, Beijing hardens zero-Covid stance and UK roils global markets
- The Hang Seng Index slips for a fifth day, finding no support from investors at home and abroad
- The People’s Daily reiterates the benefits of zero-Covid policy in yet another commentary heading into the Communist Party’s congress this weekend
The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.8 per cent to 16,701.03 at the close, the lowest level since October 2011, after earlier losing as much as 2.3 per cent. The five-day loss amounted to 7.7 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 0.3 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.5 per cent.
Alibaba Group Holding fell 2.2 per cent to HK$74.35, while HSBC slid 2.5 per cent to HK$38.70. China Merchants Bank slumped 5.4 per cent to HK$31.35, while CK Infrastructure Holdings, which derives 46 per cent of it sales from the UK, lost 5 per cent to HK$36.15 and CK Asset, which relies on the European country for 26 per cent of its revenue, slumped 3.6 per cent to HK$45.70.
Stocks pared losses as the relative-strength technical indicator for key benchmark indices in mainland China and Hong Kong fell below the 30-point threshold this week, suggesting the sell-off thus far was excessive.
The People’s Daily, the party’s newspaper, published a commentary for a third day to defend Beijing’s stringent pandemic policy going into its Congress over the weekend. The approach, it said, can prevent a large number of deaths after a sudden increase in infections over the past week.