Hong Kong shares extend slump into Year of Dragon after MSCI removes dozens of Chinese stocks from benchmark indices

Hong Kong shares extend slump into Year of Dragon after MSCI removes dozens of Chinese stocks from benchmark indices

14 Feb Hong Kong shares extend slump into Year of Dragon after MSCI removes dozens of Chinese stocks from benchmark indices

Posted at 02:38h in Asia by

Hong Kong stocks tumbled as trading resumed after the Lunar New Year holiday, along with weaker regional equity markets. Index provider MSCI removed dozens of Chinese stocks from its global benchmark indices in a review, after more than a trillion-dollar rout in the market over the past three years.

The Hang Seng Index fell 1.2 per cent to 15,561. 66 at 10am local time, following a two-day trading break. The Tech Index declined 1.1 per cent. Financial markets in mainland China are closed for the entire week for the holiday.

WuXi Biologics slumped 13.5 per cent to HK$14.98 while its sister company WuXi AppTec lost 16 per cent to HK$39.70, continuing to suffer from potential legislation barring them from doing business with the US government. Developer Longfor slid 5.9 per cent to HK$8.03 while peer China Resources Land declined 2 per cent to HK$23 amid lingering distress in China’s housing market.
New World Development slipped 3.2 per cent to HK$9.09 while Budweiser Brewing weakened 3.1 per cent to HK$12.40 and Xinyi Glass lost 2.8 per cent to HK$6.25. The trio were removed from the MSCI Hong Kong Index in the latest February review, which takes effect after the close of trading on February 29.

MSCI deleted 66 Chinese stocks from its Global Standard indices in its February review in the biggest cut in at least two years, while adding five new members, it said on Monday. India gained most from the revision among Asia-Pacific companies, as five new stocks joined the benchmarks.

The early loss added to a record 29 per cent crash in the Hang Seng Index in the just-concluded Year of the Rabbit. It may be a temporary setback. The city’s benchmark has never had a losing year since its inception during the Year of the Dragon, according to Bloomberg data, with gains ranging from 0.5 per cent to 33.4 per cent.

Major Asian markets were also on the backfoot, tracking overnight losses in New York. The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.7 per cent while the Kospi in South Korea and the S&P ASX 200 Index tumbled by more than 1 per cent.

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