HK Equities Turn Negative As Virus Reality Bites

Hong Kong and other Asian markets dropped on Thursday as the economic reality of the coronavirus crisis became even starker, and China-US relations soured, overshadowing recent optimism over the easing of lockdown measures.

With countries from Asia-Pacific to Europe and US states reopening their shattered economies, global equities have enjoyed a strong revival after crashing in March, with oil also getting much-needed support from hopes for a pick-up in demand.

But a slew of monumentally bad data has highlighted the struggle governments face is reigniting economies, with hundreds of millions of people left jobless and countless companies going under or on the brink.

On Thursday the Bank of England said it expects Britain's economic output to crash 14 percent this year, while data showed France's industrial output collapsed 16.2 percent in March on a monthly basis.

China presented a mixed bag of trade data, with exports showing a surprise jump in exports but imports tumbling.

While the rise in overseas shipments was welcome, observers said it was partly boosted by sales of medical equipment and much worse figures were to be expected over the coming months.

The Hang Seng Index eased 0.7 percent, or 156 points, to 23,980.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.2 percent, or 6 points, to 2,871, while the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.1 percent, or 2 points, to 1,790.

Mumbai dropped 0.9 percent and Bangkok shed more than one percent. Sydney eased 0.4 percent and Seoul was flat.

But Tokyo, which was returning after an extended holiday weekend, ended 0.2 percent higher, while there were also gains in Wellington and Taiwan as well as Manila, despite data showing the Philippines economy shrunk in the first quarter for the first time in more than two decades. (AFP)