Hong Kong, Shanghai Shares End With With Deep Losses

Hong Kong, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Feb, 2020 ) :Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks took another battering on Friday, in line with a global sell-off that has wiped trillions off market valuations as investors fret over the economic impact of the coronavirus.

The Hang Seng Index fell 2.42 percent, or 648.69 points, to end at 26,129.93 -- losing more than four percent since last Friday's close.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 3.71 percent, or 111.02 points, to 2,880.30, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 4.93 percent, or 93.39 points, to 1,801.75.

Both indexes plunged more than five percent over the week.

The sharp drops were part of a wider rush to safety by investors, which has seen trillions wiped off the valuations of firms around the world in what is threatening to be the worst rout since the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Friday's bloodbath came after all three indexes on Wall Street lost more than four percent as authorities in California said they were monitoring some 8,400 people for COVID-19 when officials confirmed a woman had contracted it without travelling to any of the outbreak-hit regions.

The crisis has dealt a double-whammy to Hong Kong, which was slowly showing signs of recovering from a tortuous 2019 when it fell into recession owing to the China-US trade war and months of sometimes violent protests.

The year had started on a healthy note the two economic superpowers signed a trade pact to halt their painful tariffs row, while data out of China showed tentative signs of improvement.

- Travel, energy stocks reel - No sector in Hong Kong was spared the sell-off, with firms linked to the travel industry reeling, while energy firms were hit by a sharp drop in oil prices as demand for the commodity is expected to be dented.

Chinese oil giant CNOOC shed 4.47 percent to HK$10.68 and PetroChina was 4.43 percent lower at HK$3.02.

Macau casino operators, who were forced to close by the government for two weeks, continued to suffer hefty selling as the gambling hub sees visitor numbers plunge. Wynn Macau retreated 2.85 percent to HK15.70, while rival Galaxy Entertainment was 2.00 percent lower at HK$51.45.

Airlines were also off, with Cathay Pacific down 1.96 percent at HK$10.02, while real estate giant Sun Hung Kai Properties tanked 2.03 percent to HK$110.80.

Market heavyweight Tencent lost 3.31 percent to HK$386.00 and AAC Technologies plunged 6.59 percent to HK$51.05.

In mainland China, Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi told AFP that future market trends will depend on the direction of the epidemic.

"Because China is a large economy and the country is doing an effective job in preventing and controlling the epidemic... plus a lot of companies are gradually resuming work and production, there's no need to be too pessimistic," Zhang said.

Medical shares rose, with Shanghai-listed Guangzhou Jet Bio-Filtration Co. -- which researches, develops and manufactures laboratory equipment -- soared almost 20 percent to close at 83.15 yuan.

Pharmaceutical research and development company Shenzhen Neptunus rose 8.06 percent to 5.9 yuan.

Consumer spending and confidence has been hit during the outbreak, which has claimed nearly 2,800 lives in mainland China.

Shenzhen-listed electronic appliance manufacturer Gree Electric dropped 2.49 percent to 59.2 Yuan and video surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision dived 4.89 percent to 35 yuan.