Hong Kong Market tumbles as Ukraine crisis, lockdown woes

Hong Kong share market finished session lower on Wednesday, 02 March 2022, as investors turned risk-averse and scaling back their positions amid renewed concerns about impact of a growing list of international sanctions on Moscow over its Ukraine invasion and higher fuel costs on the global economy.

Market sentiments also dampened after Hong Kong authorities reported a new record of more than 55,000 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as the omicron variant outbreak continues.

At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 1.84%, or 417.79 points, to 22,343.92. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 1.8%, or 144.86 points, to 7,908.18.

Hong Kong is preparing to impose a large-scale lockdown for mandatory mass testing in the second half of March. The restrictive measure comes as the city's COVID-19 crisis showed no signs of abating, with coronavirus infections hitting new record-highs in recent days.

Compounding the downbeat mood was the rapid surge in prices of crude oil amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 6.17% to $111.45 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also saw big gains, rising 6.1% to $109.72 per barrel.

The Ukraine war fanned commodity prices, with crude oil futures topping US$100 a barrel the first time since 2014, They reached US$110.46 in Asian trading on Wednesday. Gold advanced 2.3% to a one-year high of US$1,943.80 an ounce.

In corporate news, Zai Lab shares dropped nearly 10% after the biopharmaceutical company said its full-year net loss swelled in 2021 despite a nearly threefold increase in revenue.

XPeng lost 5% after Chinese electric-vehicle makers reported lacklustre sales in February, likely due to the Lunar New Year holiday. BYD lost 0.5% and Geely Auto slid 1.9%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News