Hong Kong shares tumbled to a four-month low yesterday, led by airlines as fears of a bird flu outbreak sparked a broad selloff, with the benchmark index breaking below a key chart support, pointing at further losses ahead.
Traders said the losses was exacerbated by an exit of funds from the territory following the Bank of Japan’s unprecedented aggressive monetary easing measures announced on Thursday, when Hong Kong markets were shut for a public holiday.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 610.59 points, or 2.73 percent, to close at 21,726.90 on turnover of HK$77.22 billion (US$9.96 billion).
Photo: Bloomberg
The China Enterprises Index of the leading Chinese listings in Hong Kong shed 3.1 percent. It also ended at its lowest point since Nov. 28.
During the shortened week, the indices slid 2.6 and 4.3 percent, respectively.
Stock markets in Taiwan and China stayed shut yesterday for public holidays and will resume trading on Monday.
“Everything is combining today to hurt the market,” said Alfred Chan (陳思龍), chief dealer at Cheer Pearl Investment Ltd (緻寶投資) in Hong Kong. “The bird flu issue is at the top of people’s minds now.”
Chinese authorities were slaughtering birds at a poultry market in the financial hub, Shanghai, as the death toll from a new strain of bird flu grew to six yesterday.
The strain does not appear to be transmitted from human to human, but Hong Kong authorities raised a preliminary alert and said they were taking precautions at the airport. Vietnam banned imports of Chinese poultry.
The 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong and China crippled tourism and brought business activities to a standstill.
Chinese airlines were among the biggest losers amid fears of lower travel demand. Air China Ltd (中國國際航空) slumped 9.8 percent, China Southern Airlines Co (中國南方航空) and China Eastern Airlines Corp (中國東方航空) each dived more than 8 percent.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways (國泰航空), which suffered huge losses in 2003, fell 4.1 percent to its lowest since September last year.
In Taiwan, hotels and restaurants yesterday said that the outbreak of the new H7N9 strain of bird flu in China has not affected their business so far, but they are keeping a close eye on developments.
Restaurant chain operator Wowprime Corp (王品) said its business has not seen any impact from the bird flu outbreak, in part because beef rather than chicken is the mainstay of its restaurants.
Fast-food chicken chain KFC Taiwan also confirmed that its business has not been affected, but added that it was watching developments closely because sales in Taiwan were hurt a few years ago during a separate avian flu outbreak in China.
The Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店) said its restaurant sales have not been affected either, but it has put a disinfectant dispenser at the entrance to its restaurants so that guests can disinfect their hands before sitting down.
The hotel has also instructed staffers to watch for guests who have flu symptoms, such as fever and coughing, and take them to be treated at local hospitals.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last