Hang Seng Index plummets 13% in worst rout in 3 decades amid all-out global tariff war

Eleven major Asia-Pacific benchmarks fall to their 52-week low; the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index enters a bear market

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Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index fell sharply on Monday. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 9:37am, 7 Apr 2025Updated: 6:05pm, 10 Apr 2025

Asian stock markets plunged across the region on Monday, kicking off the trading week on the weakest footing in decades, as the world braced for shock waves from the tit-for-tat tariff war between China and the US.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index slumped 13.2 per cent to 19,828.30 at the close of trading on Monday, losing HK$194 billion (US$25 billion) in value, marking its biggest decline since October 1997. It was the lowest level since January 23.

All 14 major equity gauges in the Asia-Pacific region fell, with 11 of them hitting their lowest in at least 52 weeks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 7.8 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi retreated 5.6 per cent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 4.2 per cent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 8 per cent.

All 83 stocks in the Hang Seng Index declined, with exporters like PC maker Lenovo Group and Apple supplier Sunny Optical Technology bearing the brunt of the sell-off. Hong Kong, a free port that maintains a separate customs union from the mainland, has been included in the tariffs that were applied by the US on China’s exports.

An electronic board showing the Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 7, 2025. Photo: AFP

“Hongkongers should be prepared for volatile trading in the stock market in the near term,” said Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po during a press briefing. “The US may slip into a recession, unemployment [may] rise, and US consumers will be hit hardest. The US stock market lost US$6 trillion in market capitalisation since the announcement of the reciprocal tariffs.”