HSI Slips, Election News Lift Australia, India

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2019-05-20 HKT 09:43

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  • Worries about China-US trade spat continue to worry investors. File photo: RTHK

    Worries about China-US trade spat continue to worry investors. File photo: RTHK

Hong Kong shares sank in the morning session on Monday as investors fret over the China-US trade war, though energy firms bucked the losses to rally on the back of booming oil prices.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.4 percent, to 27,827.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6 percent, to 2,865 at the midday break, while the Shenzhen market benchmark was 0.9 percent down, to 1,517.

Tokyo ended the morning 0.3 percent higher, with traders taking heart from news that the Japanese economy expanded more than expected in the first quarter and improved slightly from the previous three months.

Sydney more than 1 percent higher following the surprise victory of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal-National coalition in weekend elections. The Aussie dollar also enjoyed support, climbing 0.7 percent against the greenback.

In India, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex index surged more than 2 percent in early trading after polls indicated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party would return to power. The rupee was trading at 69.49 per US dollar, compared with its Friday close of 70.22.

Seoul gained 0.6 percent, Wellington added 0.3 percent and Taipei was 0.4 percent higher.

But Jakarta and Manila also down.

Still, Michael Metcalfe, global head of macro strategy at State Street, said markets could be ready for a healthy bounce.

"Right now, cash levels are at quite elevated levels and investors have money to put back into the market," he told Bloomberg TV.

"That dry powder, that potential for cash to come back in, means that once we get a resolution of the trade war and once we start to see better economic data, as we've just seen in Japan for instance, then that money is going to get dragged back out of cash into the market." (AFP)

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Last updated: 2019-05-20 HKT 13:27

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