HSI Ends A Tough Week With Another Loss

Hong Kong shares finished a tough week with another loss on Friday as traders are spooked by rising virus cases and the imposition of economically painful containment measures in several countries.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent, to 23,235 – leaving it down 5 percent from last Friday's close.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1 percent, to 3,219 while the Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 0.2 percent, to 2,143.

Tokyo ended up 0.5 percent, Sydney piled on 1.5 percent, Mumbai and Jakarta almost 2 percent and Wellington jumped 0.9 percent. There were also advances in Singapore and Seoul.

But Taipei, Manila and Bangkok were all in negative territory, having given up earlier gains.

Global traders are growing increasingly concerned about a surge in coronavirus infections in several countries that have seen governments impose partial lockdowns and social distancing measures, and shorten opening times for bars and restaurants.

The moves have sparked concerns of another painful hit to the economy.

"At this point in the recovery, a return to the Covid-19 abyss due to stricter lockdown measures is quite frankly something the global economy cannot afford," said Stephen Innes at AxiCorp.

He pointed to the negative market reaction to the imposition of "ultralight level of mobility restrictions".

"I think we dodged a bullet on this one so far, but this is not to say lawmakers who were slow to respond to the initial coronavirus outbreak will not re-impose stricter mobility restrictions if the Covid-19 curve steepens," he added. (AFP)