Hong Kong stocks plunged for a fifth straight day on Thursday (March 13), as investor sentiment remained gloomy amid fears of a looming global trade war.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.58%, or 137.66 points, to 23,462.65. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also fell 0.48%, or 41.52 points, to 8,640.61.
Trade tensions remained high after the Trump-led US administration said it would respond to the EU's retaliatory measures against the US's 25% steel and aluminium tariffs, SCMP reported on Thursday.
The US economic policy, which has introduced a number of new tariffs since Donald Trump took office, including on Chinese companies, has fueled uncertainty and trade tensions, SCMP reported, citing a senior analyst at Moody's.
The prospect of a global trade war continues to have a negative impact on business and investor confidence, he said, with global gross domestic product growth expected to fall to 2.4% in 2025 and 2026 from 2.7% in 2024.
In corporate news, Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) (HKG:2500) fell 66% after resuming trading in line with the Hong Kong stock exchange's resumption guidelines.
The heart valve maker's shares have been suspended since November 2023 after certain unauthorized transactions involving two former executive directors were discovered.
Also, Alibaba Group (HKG:9988) fell more than 2% despite further progress in the artificial intelligence niche. The e-commerce giant launched an AI model that can read emotions in a bid to take on OpenAI's new model.
Source: Bloomberg
