Hong Kong stocks followed most Asian markets lower on Friday and posted their biggest weekly loss in four months, as growing concerns about policy tightening by the world’s central banks weighed on global bourses.
Worries that China’s economic growth could slow in the second half have also curbed risk appetite.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index on Friday declined 0.6 percent. The index is down 1.2 percent, its biggest weekly loss since early March.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 70.95 points, or 0.68 percent, at 10,297.25. The TAIEX is down 0.9 percent from last week’s 10,395.07.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which ranked among the best-performing major indices in the first half of the year, on Friday fell 0.5 percent to 25,340.85 points and is down 1.6 percent for the week. The China Enterprises Index lost 0.9 percent, to 10,251.83 points.
Yang Hai, an analyst at Kaiyuan Securities said tightening by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank “would have a negative impact on liquidity situations in Hong Kong.”
The market’s upward momentum already appears to be losing steam, amid signs that the pace of Chinese money inflows — a major source of strength — is slowing.
Net inflows from China via “connect” schemes slumped by more than half last month, while monthly selling of Hong Kong stocks through the cross-border links rose to a record this year, according to the China Securities Journal, showing Chinese investors are increasingly cautious.
In Japan, TOPIX slipped 0.5 percent, its first weekly loss in a month, and the Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.3 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and New Zealand’s NZX 50 both lost 1 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.3 percent and KOSPI 200 fell 0.4 percent.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.1 percent and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 0.6 percent, while Philippine Stock Exchange PSEi Index was little changed. Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.4 percent.
Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Stock Index lost 0.9 percent while India’s SENSEX and the NSE NIFTY 50 were little changed.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and CNA
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