Hong Kong stocks fall 1.94% after protests
Hong Kong sank 1.94 per cent in the morning session Monday following a weekend of unrest as pro-democracy demonstrators clashed with police in the financial hub, while sections of the city remain shut down.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 459.77 points to 23,218.64 by the break on turnover of HK$47.55 billion ($6.14 billion).
The stand-off, the worst since the handover in 1997, saw police fire tear gas into crowds of thousands of protestors on Sunday and has led to the closure of several businesses, bank branches and schools.
Protest leaders have vowed to not back down until Beijing gives in to their demands for full universal suffrage.
In early trade Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 2.31 per cent, with the city's banking giants taking a heavy hit. HSBC was down 0.96 per cent, Hang Seng Bank was 1.50 per cent lower and Standard Chartered lost 1.40 per cent.
The HSI was already on a downtrend owing to concerns about the Chinese economy following a string of weak indicators recently. It has lost 6.5 per cent since hitting its 2014 high at the start of the month.
Elsewhere, the markets were mixed.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand index lost 3.15 points or 0.20 per cent at 2.23pm, on thin turnover of Bt24 billion, as the Commerce Ministry announced poor export performance. In the first eight months of the year, exports which generate about 60 per cent to the gross domestic product shrunk 1.36 per cent.
Japanese shares ticked up as the dollar pushed up against the yen, heading towards the 110 yen mark after US data showed the economy expanded at its fastest pace since 2011 during the April-June quarter.
Gross domestic product grew 4.6 per cent, the Commerce Department said, better than the previous 4.2 per cent estimate.
The figure shows a strong rebound from the first quarter's 2.1 per cent contraction, which was blamed in part on unusually severe winter weather that hit the country.
