PHOTO: RTE
SMALL-TIME investors in Hong Kong were reportedly left reeling on Monday as the city’s stock market experienced its most significant downturn in nearly three decades.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP), this dramatic fall, which saw the benchmark Hang Seng Index plummet by 13.2 percent—its largest single-day drop since the Asian financial crisis of 1997 – was attributed to the impact of punishing tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and the subsequent retaliatory measures from Beijing.
The widespread selloff was not confined to Hong Kong, as other Asian markets also felt the impact of China’s levies.
At a securities brokerage situated in Hong Kong’s financial district, the atmosphere was described as grim, with more than a dozen elderly investors observed watching the red numbers flashing across their computer screens.
The report noted that all 83 constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index experienced losses on Monday.
Among the companies that suffered the most significant declines were Lenovo Group, which saw its shares plunge by 23 percent, and Alibaba Group, with an 18 percent decrease.
The head of research at Bright Smart Securities Stanley Chik, , told AFP that the resumption of trading in the Chinese finance hub on Monday, following a three-day break, had exacerbated the drawdown.
AFP further reported that despite outperforming the United States stock market since Trump assumed office, Monday’s rout had erased the Hang Seng Index’s gains from the first quarter of the year.
The report highlighted Hong Kong’s high level of retail investor participation, citing a 2023 survey indicating that 48 percent of respondents had held or traded stocks in the preceding year.
A 35-year-old man, Tsang reported losing approximately $12,900 on his long-term investments on Monday but indicated that he was not yet considering selling.
He admitted to not expecting the situation to become so severe and suggested that China A-shares might prove more resilient, noting the difficulty in predicting who would suffer more in the trade dispute between China and the United States.
In contrast, lawyer Ray Chan, 30, had reportedly avoided losses by selling all his Hong Kong and US shareholdings two weeks prior, securing gains in the seven figures.
He said he believed they were entering a bear market but felt prepared, explaining that Trump’s announcement of tariffs on April 2 had allowed him to anticipate the direction of the market. He anticipated remaining out of the market for “at least a year”.
–BTS Media
