Hong Kong Stocks Plunge
Hong Kong stocks plunged 321 points, or 1.6%, to 20,077 in early trade on Friday, shedding gains from the previous session amid sharp losses across sectors.
Traders fled riskier assets after the minutes of China’s Central Economic Work Conference lacked policy details, with top leaders reportedly pledging only to raise the fiscal deficit target for next year.
Overnight in the U.S., a rally on Wall Street stalled after weekly jobless claims rose more than expected, and producer price data was mixed. Locally, industrial output in Hong Kong fell in the third quarter of 2024 after rising for the previous six quarters.
However, the Hang Seng is on track for its third weekly gain, up about 1% so far, supported by new voucher programs launched in major mainland cities such as Shanghai and Beijing to boost local consumption ahead of the holiday. Among large-cap stocks, significant losses were recorded by Longfor Group (-5.6%), Geely Auto (-4.2%), Semiconductor Manufacturing (-3.5%), Li Auto (-3.3%), and Meituan (-3.0%).
Source: Trading Economics
