Hong Kong Hang Seng Down 0.95% on Pandemic Outlook; Property and Tech Sectors Fall Again

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index opened lower Monday, rallied but then fell in the afternoon to finish off 0.95% as traders again took to sidelines on prospects for global commerce restrictions due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. Macau casino issues retreated on a possible new Beijing crackdown on illegal cross-border gambling junkets, reported the South China Morning Post.

The broad gauge Hang Seng struck a one-year low, falling 228.28 to 23,852.24, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 37 to 17. The Hang Seng TECH Index fell 0.9% on the day, as did the Mainland Properties Index.

Leading the upside on a down day were smartphone-components maker Sunny Optical Trading 2382, up 3.6%, followed by Wuxi Biologics 2269, off 2.9%, and then China Mengniu Dairy 2319, up 2.4%.

On the downside were online delivery service Meituan 3690, off 7.1%, and then Macau gaming-house Galaxy Entertainment 27, off 5.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite traded evenly, closing at 3,562.70.