China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.3 percent this week to end a little bit lower than 4,000 points on Friday despite global tech sell-off, said a market analyst.
Chinese stocks closed lower Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.25 percent to 3,997.56 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.36 percent lower at 13,404.06 points.
Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN), highlighted the trend behind the numbers in his recap of China's stock market performance.
"We had a choppy day of trade on the Chinese mainland markets today, but for most of the session, despite increased volume and turnover, the markets didn't really seem to go anywhere. The Shanghai Composite Index hung around above 4,000 points for quite a bit of the session before closing at 3,997, down a quarter of 1 percent, but ultimately the trading band was very narrow. The index has been able to shrug off a lot of the global market jitters this week surrounding tech stocks. I have now lost count of the number of articles I've read and podcasts I've listened to over the past two weeks asking if AI stock is a bubble that's about to burst and comparing it to the dot-com bubble. So, there's clearly some anxiety out there, but while investors did continue to take profits on tech stocks on the Chinese mainland it hasn't really put much of a roadblock in the way of the market as a whole. The Shanghai Composite Index ended the week 1.3 percent higher, while we saw a lot of other tech heavy indices around the world taking quite a hit," he said.
"The gains this week continued to come from materials and energy companies. Today's top percentage gainer was a bio-diesel producer Longyan ZhuoYue New Energy. It was up 20 percent, and the top contributor to gains was the old-school oil refiner PetroChina," he added.
"Investors today also had to digest the latest export numbers. They seemed to suggest buyers of Chinese products might be done front-loading purchases ahead of tariffs. But that's something we knew was coming, and the task now will be to broaden that domestic demand," he said.
China's benchmark stock index ends higher this week despite global tech sell-off: analyst
Amid the rising fuel costs and airline surcharges linked to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, Caribbean tourism officials gathered at the 44th Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Forum this month and expressed cautious optimism, citing resilient visitor demand, strategic marketing adjustments, and strong seasonal performance as foundations for continued recovery.
The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is already affecting Caribbean economies as fuel prices surge and airlines pass costs on to passengers. This not only pressures the region's tourism-dependent economies but also raises the cost of imported food, electricity, and transportation.
Since the start of the conflict, the price of Brent crude has surged nearly 50 percent, prompting airlines to find the ways to share the burden with travelers.
"The impacts are unfolding in stages. In the first place, when the uncertainty, or the disturbance occurred in the Middle Eastern region, it actually cut the supply chain to some extent to the Pacific, and people started to look at the region in particular. We amplified out marketing presence, to ensure that when people are looking for an option or places to rebook, that St. Lucia would turn up. And we've actually seen some of that result," said Louis Lewis, chief executive officer of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority.
During the International Monetary Fund's Spring Meeting, the international financial institution expressed its concern for Caribbean tourism, warning that it could see a decline as ticket prices increase.
Lewis acknowledged the potential for longer-term disruption.
"The second thing is that if the conflict continues as a prolonged activity, we anticipate that it could impact us. We will have to diversify from our major source markets, hence the reason why we are looking at Latin America," he said.
But some of the region's top tourism officials are seeing positive signs. The region is coming off another successful year, where tourism arrivals grew by 2.5 percent, adding an additional 900,000 visitors over 2024.
"The region has been witnessing a very good winter season, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the forecast that we have for the summer will continue to be very strong," said Ian Gooding-Edghill, minister of tourism of Barbados.
Still, structural vulnerabilities remain. As an import-dependent region, the Caribbean is highly exposed to global price fluctuations. Concerns are mounting that rising prices in the United States could trigger sharper inflationary pressures, including higher operating costs in the tourism sector.
"In Saint Lucia, we just saw the cost of energy increase about 20 percent, and that's having an impact now going into the summer when our rates are lower. It rallies points to the importance of us building a bit more resilience into Caribbean tourism," said Sanovnik Destang, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.
Caribbean tourism shows resilience despite Middle East tension challenges
Caribbean tourism shows resilience despite Middle East tension challenges
