Hong Kong stocks fall most in nearly 26 months amid broad sell-off

Shenzhou International group

23/03/2020 08:56

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used -11.3%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 19.1%
    * HSI -4.9%, HSCE -4.0%, CSI300 -3.4%
    * FTSE China A50 -2.8%

    March 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks fell on Monday by
their most in nearly 26 months, joining a global sell-off as
national lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus
outbreak threatened to overshadow policymakers' efforts to
prevent a global recession. 
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  fell 4.9% to 21,696.13,
posting its biggest drop since Feb. 6, 2018, while the China
Enterprises Index  .HSCE  lost 4.0% to 8,751.76.  
    ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares
 .HSCIE  dipped 4.4%, the IT sector  .HSCIIT  fell 4.39%, the
financial sector  .HSNF  ended 4.37% lower and the property
sector declined 6.13%.
    ** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Wharf Real Estate
Investment Company Ltd  1997.HK , which climbed 1.32%, while the
biggest loser was Techtronic Industries Co Ltd  0669.HK , which
fell 13.01%.
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  dropped 5.3% as restrictions across the world to
stem the spread of the virus threatened to overwhelm frantic
policy efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global
recession.  MKTS/GLOB   
    ** Meanwhile, mainland investors continued to hunt for
bargains in the Asian financial hub, buying more than 10 billion
yuan ($1.41 billion) worth of Hong Kong-listed stocks via the
Stock Connect for the day, as they expected Beijing would roll
out more policy measures to underpin China's economy.
    ** A Chinese central bank official said on Sunday Beijing's
recent policy measures were gaining traction, while it had
capacity for further action.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BF048 
    ** The People's Bank of China has already rolled out a raft
of measures to counter the economic blow from the outbreak,
including cutting lending rates and banks' reserve ratios, and
doling out cheap loans for selected firms.
    ** Zhou Liang, vice chairman of the China Banking and
Insurance Regulatory Commission, said China was ready to buffer
financial risks caused by the pandemic, and was studying plans
to reform the country's asset management companies that are
tasked to deal with bad loans.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.1148 per U.S. dollar
at 08:13 GMT, 0.25% weaker than the previous close of 7.097. 
    ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of
31.82% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

($1 = 7.1168 Chinese yuan)

 (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))