It is hard to tell if Hang Seng TECH Index had reached the bottom, the rising Covid cases in the Chinese mainland may hit the already damaged supply chain and consumption.
Photo from CFP
By SUN Yizhen, LIU Chenguang
China shares were down on March 14 amid more Covid cases and global economic turbulence caused by the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The Hang Seng Index fell 4.97 percent to 19,531.6, a six-year low. The Hang Seng TECH Index fell 11.03 percent to 3,778.6, the worst one-day fall since it was introduced in 2020.
The tech giants saw their shares down. Tencent Holdings fell by 9 percent, Bilibili 18 percent, Meituan 16 percent and Alibaba 11 percent. EV makers XPeng and Li Auto dropped by 22 percent and 19 percent.
The mainland stock market was also down, the three benchmarks – the Shanghai Composite Index, Shenzhen Component Index, and ChiNext Composite Index – all dropped more than 2 percent. More than 4,200 shares, 90 percent of all listed A-share companies, fell on Monday.
CHEN Li, the chief economist of Chuancai Securities, said as a new round of Covid hit many cities in China, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, authorities are taking measures. The fall was a panic response to possible disruption.
“The Ukraine-Russia conflict pushed crude oil prices up and worsened inflation,” Chen said. “The turbulence will continue for a while.
Chen said the HK market fall is due to the Covid situation and the continuous slide of China concepts stocks in the US. He said companies may choose secondary listings in China or simply leave the US stock market altogether.
