Hong Kong Stocks Start The Week With A Fall

Hong Kong stocks closed in negative territory Monday as traders fret over a pick-up in virus infections across the world, forcing the reintroduction of some lockdown measures.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 percent, to 24,511.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index eased 0.1 percent, to 2,965 but the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.3 percent, to 1,936.

Tokyo lost 0.2 percent while Seoul shed 0.7 percent and Wellington dropped 0.9 percent. Bangkok and Jakarta were also down, with Sydney flat.

But Mumbai rose along with Taipei, Singapore and Manila.

US investors were spooked on Friday when Apple said it would shut some stores it had recently reopened because of new cases.

At the same time, though, European countries are slowly emerging from their economy-sapping lockdowns, with Spain opening its borders, welcoming flights, while schools, cinemas and theatres reopened in France.

"Global stocks are finding support (in) that for now, rising daily Covid-19 cases are staying local and failing to have a global impact. So investors can take some solace in that," said Stephen Innes at AxiCorp.

"What is vital for the economy is whether governments reimpose wide-sweeping lockdowns. With the overall count low globally, that's unlikely, whereas proximity or soft lockdowns like in Beijing is more likely." (AFP)