Hong Kong, Shanghai shares sink as virus trumps strong data
A woman wearing a face mask walks past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index in Hong Kong, Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Stocks were mostly lower in Asia and oil prices fell Tuesday after another day of losses on Wall Street as anxiety over the war in Ukraine and an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates keep global financial markets on edge. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
AP
BANGKOK
Share prices tumbled in China on Tuesday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down nearly 6% and the Shanghai Composite index sinking 5% as virus lockdowns and rising numbers of COVID cases threaten to disrupt manufacturing and trade.
The sell-off gathered pace late in the session despite the release of data showing strong increases in retail sales, industrial production and investment in January-February. It followed the Chinese central bank’s decision not to ease interest rates to spur economic growth.
Stocks also fell elsewhere in Asia and oil prices slid further as Russian forces pounded the Ukraine capital ahead of another round of talks between the two sides.
Anxiety over the war in Ukraine and an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates are keeping markets on edge.
Uncertainty about whether persistently high inflation might stifle the global recovery from the pandemic has caused gyrations in prices for oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region, bringing day-to-day and hour-to-hour reversals across markets.
“Markets appear to have been trafficking in an odd mix of hope, fear and uncertainty,” Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.
Shares in Hong Kong have sunk to near six-year lows after the neighboring city of Shenzhen was ordered into a shutdown to combat China’s worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years.
The Hang Seng index lost 5.9% to 18,376.60 after wobbling more than 6% lower. The Shanghai Composite gave up 5% to 3,063.97.
“Fears continue to dog stock markets that lockdowns could spread, which would severely impact China’s growth,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a commentary.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% to 25,346.48, while the Kospi in Seoul gave up 0.9% to 2,621.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.7% to 7,097.40 and shares also fell in Taiwan and Bangkok.
Oil prices have tumbled this week, taking some pressure off the inflation sweeping the globe, with a barrel of U.S. crude falling below $100 per barrel after touching $130 last week.
U.S. crude shed $5.04 to $97.97 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It tumbled $6.32 to $103.01 on Monday.
Brent crude, the standard…
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