Sunday, October 23, 2022

HK Stocks React to Xi


Xi and Politburo move markets in a downward direction

How did Hong Kong react to General Secretary Xi Jinping's extension of power for at least another five years and his seven-man Politburo lineup?

The Hang Seng Index plunged over 700 points to drop below 16,000 points, a 13-year low. The index fell 4.4 percent to 15,494. 24 at 11.01am local time, the lowest level since May 2009. There was a major sell off of tech stocks, with Alibaba Group falling 8.8 percent to HK$63.50, a record-low close, and Tencent Holdings slumped 7 percent to HK$216.80. Meituan slumped 9.5 percent to HK$128,10.

HSI plunged below 15,000 in 13 years
Developer stocks also dropped, with Longfor Group falling 9.4 percent to HK$17.30 and Country Garden lost 7.7 percent to HK$1.32.

In his report to the Congress, Xi called for "regulating the mechanism of wealth accumulation", signalling a tighter oversight of private capital following months of crackdown on tech companies, while also pushing his vision for "common prosperity" in a bid to close the wealth gap in the country.

China's economy grew only 3.9 percent in the third quarter when it had projected 5 percent, demonstrating a lack of consumer confidence in the retail sector, which only grew 2.5 percent in the third quarter.

Does Xi even care about economic numbers? This slide backwards is a rebuke to what Jiang Zemin/Zhu Rongji and Hu Jintao/Wen Jiabao did in the past 20 years.

Unless Xi has an economic miracle up his sleeve, stocks are going to sink further.

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