A mixed picture prevails in Asian stock markets on Monday, with the Hong Kong stock market recording losses of more than 1%, as investors follow the developments for the Omicron variant and the volatility of Bitcoin.
In particular, o Hang Seng Hong Kong lost 1.81% with the tech industry falling sharply as JD and Tencent shares fell 3% and 2.68% respectively.
At the same time, Alibaba’s share lost more than 8%. The company has announced that Toby Xu will succeed Maggie Wu as chief financial officer. The change will take effect on April 1.
Meanwhile, four new stocks – including Chinese tech giants JD and Netease – have been added to the Hang Seng index. The latest addition increases the number of shares in the index to 64 from 60 previously.
It is also noted that Evergrande will be removed from the China Enterprises index. It is reminded that China Evergrande announced on Friday that it received a $ 260 million bail claim, but added that it may not be able to repay it due to the liquidity crisis plaguing the Chinese real estate industry. The Chinese giant also warned that other repayments of its obligations under other agreements may be postponed.
International markets came under heavy pressure last week over a new variant of the coronavirus, called Omicron.
“This week will be crucial, as we will probably have a better picture of Omicron’s seriousness,” DBS said on Monday. “During the Delta Outbreak in August, tech stocks reacted better. That did not happen this time, with the Nasdaq correcting more than the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones.”
On the rest of the board, in mainland China Shanghai composite and Shenzhen component decline by 0.50% and 0.93% respectively.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.36% while o Kospi strengthened by 0.17%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recovered from the losses recorded earlier and closed with gains of 0.05%.
Investors continue to watch cryptocurrencies as the price of Bitcoin lost significantly on Saturday. Bitcoin initially lost about 17% or $ 10,000, falling close to $ 43,000. Right now, according to investing.com, Bitcoin has recovered a bit and is now losing 2.72% in the last 24 hours and is moving at $ 47,931. However, the cryptocurrency has lost more than 10% since Friday.
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