- The market is acting “in line with expectations,” according to Chief Executive John Lee, and there are no indications of anomalies.
- After falling below the 15,000-point threshold the day before, the Hang Seng Index rebounded early on Tuesday.
The head of the city stated that although the Hong Kong stock market has been affected by negative global sentiment, it is still performing “in line with expectations” and is appealing to investors worldwide, even if its benchmark index fell to a 15-month low.
Tuesday morning saw a rebound for the Hang Seng Index, which had fallen below the 15,000-point threshold the day before.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu alluded to the global climate of uncertainty while saying that the market exhibited no indications of anomalies.
“High interest rates, complexity in geopolitics, uncertainty in the supply chain and the transport of some goods, and the market’s different reactions to changes in the US election [prospects] … have all made the market very sensitive,” Lee said before his weekly Executive Council meeting.
“When the market is highly sensitive, we of course hope that investors will pay careful attention to the changes in the market to make any decisions,” he added, stressing that regulators closely monitoring the markets found them operating “in line with expectations”.
According to Lee, the city is still a vibrant, competitive global financial hub. He continued by saying that it benefited from established regulatory frameworks, openness, fair playing fields, and free movement of capital, all of which demonstrated the strength of the financial markets.
Lee said, “The meeting that took place in Beijing on Monday between HSBC Group chairman Mark Tucker and Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng demonstrated the nation’s unwavering support for the city’s endeavours to solidify its status as a global financial hub.”
“With the support of various policies [from Beijing], in addition to Hong Kong’s own advantages, I am confident in our overall market operation,” the chief executive said.
On Monday, the Hang Seng Index dropped 2.3% to 14,961.18, below the 15,000-point threshold and at its lowest since October 2022. On Tuesday, however, at 9.36am, the benchmark stock market index increased by 1.1% to 15,125.38.
The executive director of Chinese University’s Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance, Terence Chong Tai-leung, noted that while stock market volatility are common, the last time the index dropped below the 15,000-point barrier was in 2022, and that the index recovered swiftly.
The analyst went on to say that investors would choose to put their money in time deposits rather than the stock market given the present high interest rate environment.
Despite this, Chong pointed out that Hong Kong was still a highly regarded global financial hub and that the decline in the index would not harm the city’s standing, pointing to its robust bond and foreign currency markets as some of its strong points.
Separately, following his chairing of a State Council meeting on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged officials to “vigorously improve the quality and investment value of listed companies, increase the entry of medium- and long-term funds into the market, and enhance the inherent stability of the market,” as reported by Xinhua news agency.
The gathering was viewed as the most obvious indication yet of the central government’s efforts to stop the collapse of the mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stock markets.
- Published By Team Hongkong Journalist
