Hong Kong stock market operates as normal during first-ever typhoon trading session

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Pedestrians walk past Exchange Sqaure in Central under the Storm Signal No.8. Photo: Sam Tsang

Zhang Shidongin ShanghaiandEnoch Yiuin Hong Kong

Published: 10:20am, 14 Nov 2024Updated: 8:30pm, 14 Nov 2024

It was business as usual at the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. The market continued operating as normal during adverse weather for the first time even as a typhoon swirled over the city.

Government officials and brokers hailed it a success, as trading was carried out without a glitch following the scrapping of a decades-old practice of halting trading during typhoons and torrential rains that started on September 23.

“The reform to allow the market to remain open during typhoons is an important one for Hong Kong’s financial market,” Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, said on social media on Thursday afternoon.

The move matches international practices and burnishes the city’s standing as an international financial centre, he added.

Hong Kong’s stock market previously used to delay opening or stay closed when a typhoon signal 8 or higher was in place, or when a black rain signal was raised, making it one of the few major markets to close during bad weather in the modern digital trading era.

View of Exchange Square in Central with the typhoon signal 8 raised on Thursday. Photo: Sam Tsang

The Hong Kong Observatory issued the typhoon signal 8, the third highest, on Wednesday night as Tropical Storm Toraji edged towards the city. The stock and futures market continued to trade from 9:30am even as the T8 warning signal was in force. The signal was lowered at 10:20am as the storm weakened.