Hong Kong Stocks Plunge as U.S. Stocks Fall and Mainland Retail Sales Disappoint
The Hong Kong stock market continued its downward trend on January 17th, with the Hang Seng Index closing at 15,276 points, marking a drop of 589 points or 3.7%. This sharp decline follows a similar drop the previous day, pushing the market closer to the 10,000-500 mark. The S-Share Index also fell by 3.9% and the S&T Index by 5.0%.
Some of the biggest names in the Hong Kong stock market suffered significant losses, with Tencent (00700) falling by 2.8%, Alibaba (09988) by 4.0%, Meituan (03690) by 7.0%, and JD.com (09618) by 6.1%. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) and HSBC Holdings (00005) also faced declines of 3.7% and 2.0% respectively. On the other hand, Haier Smart Home (06690) and Hang Lung Properties (00101) saw drops of 1.2% and 7.1%.
Additionally, Weimeng (02013) experienced a plummet of 11.6% in its stock price after announcing plans to sell Shanghai Weimeng and go public. Rongchang Biological (09995) also faced a significant drop of 22.7% despite clarifying that cash flow shortages and other issues were inconsistent with the facts.
In other news, popular e-commerce platform SHEIN sought to be listed in the United States but faced censorship from the Cyberspace Administration of China. This comes after the brand encountered plagiarism controversies and legal disputes with Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo.
Meanwhile, Ding Yifeng (00612) had to counter rumors of false “good news” being circulated about the company following a 32.8% stock price plummet. However, the stock rebounded by 14.4% the following day.
In light of these developments, financial experts are predicting potential interest rate cuts from both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the central bank in response to cooling inflation expectations. It is expected that the first interest rate cut in the second quarter of this year could provide some relief to the market.
As of press time, Brent crude oil fell by 0.6% to US$77.4 per barrel, leading to declines in the stocks of PetroChina (00857), CNOOC (00883), and Sinopec (00386) by 3.3%, 2.4%, and 2.8% respectively.
The Hong Kong stock market is closely monitoring these developments as authorities grapple with the challenges posed by the global economic landscape.