The Benchmark Hangsen Index has plummeted by up to 13.74% on Asian market Horror Day.
Hong Kong’s stock market is suffering from the sharpest day’s decline in nearly 30 years amid a wave of panic sales brought about by US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.
The benchmark Hang Seng index fell 13.22% on Monday after a plunge by 13.74% during the day.
It was the sharpest entry for Hong Kong stocks during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, as the index fell 13.7% in a day.
During the global financial crisis of 2007-09, the index fell 12.7% on the worst day of Hong Kong stocks.
The defeat means that Trump likens the measure to “drugs” after doubled his drastic tariffs overnight, retaliating with a 34% tariff on US imports following last week’s announcement.
“Fri was a holiday in Hong Kong, so what we’re looking at is the response to Trump’s tariffs and China’s retaliation. It’s a double whammy,” Carlos Casanova, senior economist at UBP in Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera.
“Put this in the context, previous retaliatory measures cover less than 1% of China’s total imports. The magnitude of the final measures is unprecedented,” Casanova said.
“We are in unknown territory.”
Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist in the Asia-Pacific region of Natixis, said Hong Kong market performance provided a more accurate measure of investors’ feelings regarding the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the Chinese economy than the mainland stock market.
“The point is that you can’t trade freely in China. You can’t shorten your Chinese. You can do all that in Hong Kong. So it’s obvious that it reflects that it’s far better than Chinese stocks,” Garcia Herero told Al Jazeera.
Hong Kong stocks are by far the worst performers on a disastrous day across Asian markets, with stocks in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore all suffering sharp declines.
Since Trump announced sweeping fees in almost every country on Wednesday, global stock markets have dumped trillions of dollars worth.
US customs officials have begun to impose a baseline tariff of 10% on Sunday imports.
US stocks have dumped more than $6 trillion in value since Trump’s “liberation day.”
If Wall Street resumes Monday, more rapid losses could occur. This is due to a 2.7% and 3.55% decrease in the benchmark S&P500 and high-tech heavy NASDAQ-100 respectively.
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