appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Cao Li

Hong Kong stocks fell on Thursday as the Middle East conflict showed no signs of ending and oil prices once again crossed US$100 a barrel.
The Hang Seng Index closed 0.7 per cent lower at 25,716.76. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.5 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index eased 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.1 per cent.
“Markets are currently pricing low-probability left-tail outcomes, driven by uncertainty around the length and escalation path of the US-Israel war on Iran,” said Ray Sharma-Ong, deputy global head of multi-asset bespoke solutions at Aberdeen Investments. “This has resulted in an indiscriminate sell-off across global markets.”
Iraq announced the closure of oil ports after two tankers were attacked, outweighing the impact of a record release of emergency oil reserves by wealthy nations. Oil prices traded over US$100 a barrel again after retreating earlier in the week.


After the International Energy Agency said this week that its member countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency stocks, the largest volume of emergency oil release in its history, the US announced plans to release 172 million barrels as part of its efforts to cool down soaring oil prices.
With the conflict escalating with multiple strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for about 20 per cent of global oil flows, Brent crude jumped 10.5 per cent to US$101.6 a barrel before edging down to US$96.3 and West Texas Intermediate rose to US$91 a barrel.
“Current market behaviour resembles prior episodes in which risk assets overshoot to the downside as investors attempt to price worst-case scenarios,” said Sharma-Ong after analysing 21 US air strike campaigns in the Middle East over the past four decades.
“As uncertainty recedes, markets have historically stabilised and recovered relatively quickly.”
Lombard Odier said the conflict could be of limited duration and expected oil prices to revert to the previous US$60 to US$70 a barrel within six months.
Chinese pharmaceutical firm CSPC Pharmaceutical Group led the declines, falling 4.5 per cent to close at HK$8.65. Beverage company Nongfu Spring fell 4.4 per cent to HK$43.40. CMOC Group, one of China’s biggest miners, lost 3.9 per cent to HK$19.80.
Limiting losses, JD Logistics, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, rose 4.2 per cent to HK$14.20. China Hongqiao Group, one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, rallied 4 per cent to HK$40.04. CNOOC, China’s third-largest oil company, gained 3.7 per cent to HK$29.10.
Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, markets fell as oil prices rallied. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 retreated 1.3 per cent.


Expect ‘high tide’ of Chinese biotech deals as threat of US curbs fades: analysts

4 mainland Chinese firms jump into cooling Hong Kong IPO market

Mainland China’s stock exchanges mount charm offensive amid Hong Kong IPO boom

For China’s hi-tech IPOs, it’s Hong Kong vs the mainland – but how much does it matter?

Hong Kong stock market

Hong Kong stocks fall as oil once again trades over US$100

An electronic board shows stock indices in the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

Middle East turmoil triggers retail-style swings by mainland investors in Hong Kong stocks

The escalating hostilities in the Middle East have prompted onshore Chinese investors trading Hong Kong’s stocks through cross-border Stock Connect programmes to behave more like short-term day traders. Photo: EPA

Against the backdrop of potential volatility ahead, mainland buying has become more selective. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Oil above US$100 may persist as Goldman warns rally not over

A worker operates valves at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq, as the country cuts nearly 1.5 million barrels per day of output following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: Reuters 

A crude oil tanker is guided into berth at an oil terminal in Qingdao, China. Iran produces about 3.4 million barrels of crude a day, roughly half of which is exported to China. Photo: AFP

From oil to saffron: how US-Iran conflict is rattling Chinese retail investors

Supply chain disruptions tied to the conflict could affect everything from fertiliser imports to pharmaceutical products containing saffron. Photo AFP

A worker sorts and cleans saffron filaments during its processing at the Novin Saffron factory in northeastern Iran’s Khorasan province. Photo: AFP

Iranian women pick up saffron flowers at a field in Khorasan province of northeastern Iran. Photo: AFP

Business

Markets

Brent crude rises as much as 10.5 per cent to US$101.6 a barrel even after Western nations take steps to mitigate oil prices


Brent crude rises as much as 10.5 per cent to US$101.6 a barrel even after Western nations take steps to mitigate oil prices.


Hong Kong stocks fall as oil once again trades over US$100

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Brent crude rises as much as 10.5 per cent to US$101.6 a barrel even after Western nations take steps to mitigate oil prices

Brent crude rises as much as 10.5 per cent to US$101.6 a barrel even after Western nations take steps to mitigate oil prices