China, HK stocks close down as escalating ME war saps sentiment

SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks closed down on Thursday as investor risk appetite waned amid few signs that the US-Israel war with Iran will end soon.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index ended 0.4 percent lower, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1 percent. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was down 0.7 percent. Energy shares outperformed, with onshore and offshore energy gauges up 2.5 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, and the Coal Index gaining 4.7 percent after Brent crude jumped past USD100 a barrel.

Iran set ablaze two tankers in Iraqi waters as it stepped up attacks on oil and transport facilities across the Middle East, warning the world should be ready for oil at USD200 a barrel in defiance of President Donald Trump’s claim that the US had already won the war.