Hong Kong stocks sink as unrest continues to grip the city
Hong Kong stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the city endured a third consecutive day of violent unrest.
The Hang Seng Index ended the day down 1.8%. So far this week, the index has lost more than 4%. And while it’s still nearly 3% higher than where it started the year, the Hang Seng has fallen 12% since it peaked in April
The top three losers on the Hong Kong index were local property owners and developers. New World Development dropped the most — 5.3%.
Elsewhere in the region, Nissan shares recouped most of their early losses and were down 0.4% in Tokyo. Earlier in the day, the Japanese automaker slid as much as 4.3% after it reported poor earnings.
The stock has tumbled 19% so far this year.
Meanwhile, Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 dropped 0.9% on Wednesday.
Nissan said after Tuesday’s market close that its operating profit fell 70% to 30 billion yen ($275 million) for the three months that ended in September, well below the estimated 47.5 billion yen from a Refinitiv poll of analysts.
The automaker cut its sales forecast, expecting to sell 5.2 million cars for the fiscal year that ends in March 2020 — 5.4% less than what it initially anticipated. It also slashed the forecast of its full-year operating profit by 35%.
South Korea’s Kospi Index lost nearly 0.9%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.3%.
US stock futures also retreated. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all moved more than 0.4% lower. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday in New York that a phase one trade deal with China “could happen soon” but said he will only “accept a deal if it’s good for the United States.”
