HONG KONG: Shares in Hong Kong plummeted more than 13 percent Monday on their worst day in almost three decades as China’s retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs ramped up a trade war and fuelled recession fears.
The Hang Seng Index ended down 13.22 percent, or 3,021.51 points, to 19,828.30 – its heftiest drop since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis – while the Shanghai Composite Index shed 7.34 percent, or 245.43 points, to 3,096.58.
The sharp selloff came amid a collapse in Asian markets after China said late Friday it would impose retaliatory levies of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10.
The announcement followed the US president’s unveiling of sweeping tariffs against trading partners for what he says is years of being ripped off, and claims that governments were lining up to cut deals with Washington.
Firms across all sectors were in the firing line, with tech giant Alibaba diving 18 percent and rival JD.com shedding 15.5 percent, while Chinese developers lost as much as 15 percent. Market operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing was also hammered more than 14 percent.
The rush to sell saw market turnover hit a record HK$621 billion (US$80 billion).
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