Hong Kong Market tanks 2.62% on unrest, trade uncertainty

The Hong Kong stock market closed steep lower on Monday, 11 November 2019, as risk off selloff triggered on worries over the political unrest on the island city, and conaerns about the economic health of the world's second-largest economy amid uncertainties around a proposed Sino-US trade deal. At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index tanked 2.62%, or 724.59 points, to 26,926.55. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index sank 2.47%, or 268.67 points, to 10,613.63.

Monday's declines came on the heels of new and shocking levels of violence in the Asian financial hub. A traffic officer shot a 21-year-old protester and fired two more live rounds early in the day. Later, in another part of the city, a man who confronted a group of protesters was doused in a flammable liquid and set alight. Protests disrupted public transit throughout the city on Monday, as demonstrators blocked roadways and several subway lines experienced delays. The unrest in Hong Kong is reminding investors of lingering geo-political risks as U.S.-China trade talks drag on.

The U.S. President Donald Trump said there had been incorrect reporting about U.S. willingness to lift tariffs, which he said had brought in tens of billions of dollars for the United States and soon "literally hundreds of billions of dollars." The U.S. President Donald Trump comments worsened sentiment already hit by a similar statement from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro that the tariff rollback plan faced fierce internal opposition at the White House. That ended days of optimism as officials said tariffs would be rolled back and the deal would be signed soon.

Both sides are working to sign what the White House has described as a phase one trade deal. Officials from both countries said on Thursday that China and the United States had agreed to roll back tariffs already in place on each others' goods in a "phase one" trade deal to end a damaging trade war, but the idea has been met with stiff opposition within some quarters of the Trump administration.

China's producer-price index dropped deeper into deflationary territory in October, falling 1.6% in October from a year earlier, as the manufacturing sector weakened on declining demand and a knock from the Sino-U.S. tariff war. Producer prices fell 1.2% in September from a year earlier. In contrast, China's consumer-price index rose 3.8% in October from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday, outpacing September's 3% reading, driven mostly by a surge in pork prices as African swine fever ravaged the country's hog herds.

Blue chips fell across the board. HSBC (00005) sank 1.8% to HK$59. HKEX (00388) dipped 3.1% to HK$246.2. Tencent (00700) fell 1.3% to HK$323. China Mobile (00941) shed 2.4% to HK$62.75. AIA (01299) slipped 3.4% to HK$79.6.

Property counters and landlords were all dragged down on escalating social conflicts. New World Development (00017) slid 4.2% to HK$11.02. Sun Hung Kai Properties (00016) shed 4.3% to HK$112. Hang Lung Properties (00101) sank 3.7% to HK$16.54. Wharf REIC (01997) slumped 4.5% to HK$44.35. Henderson Land Development (00012) moved down 2.5% to HK$38.5. Sino Land (00083) was down 2% to HK$11.9. CK Asset (01113) weakened by 3% to HK$53.75.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News