Risk-off sentiment weighed on Hong Kong stocks on Friday as investors were expecting another round of rate hikes, according to China Global Television Network (CGTN) market analyst Timothy Pope.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 0.60 percent to close at 24,805.63 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 0.34 percent to end at 8,246.33 points, while the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.23 percent to end at 4,320.57 points.
Pope pointed out that concerns over further interest rate hikes had weighed on the markets throughout the week.
"Treasury bond yields were spiking, oil shooting back above 100 dollars a barrel and inflation concerns mounting really leave investors betting on another rate hike. JPMorgan now expects eight out of the nine developed-market central banks to raise rates before the end of the year. The ECB, in fact, already moved late yesterday. That left Hong Kong markets very risk-off. The Hang Seng slipped another 0.6 percent today, leaving it down about 3.3 percent for the week," said Pope.
Two IPOs listed on Hong Kong Exchanges performed very differently, despite both being the kind of growth stocks the exchange is trying to attract. Their contrasting performances highlighted what investors are currently willing to pay for tech shares.
"Longsys listed on Tuesday. It is now trading about 15 percent below its IPO price. Investors have treated it much more like a cyclical memory business, where today's unusually strong profits may not last forever. Excelland Robotics, on the other hand, jumped more than 150 percent on its debut on Wednesday. It gave back some of those gains today, but is still trading almost three times its IPO price despite having much shakier fundamentals and losses. Investors seemed much more willing to pay for that future robotics growth story," Pope said.
Hong Kong markets turn risk-off as investors bet on more rate hikes: analyst
A Chinese envoy on Friday warned of emerging terrorism risks driven by the misuse of new technologies, urging the international community to enhance cooperation and eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorist activities.
Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to United Nations, made the remarks at a UN Security Council open briefing marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Prior to the meeting, attendees observed a moment of silence to mourn the victims of the September 11 attacks.
During the session, the Security Council issued a presidential statement reaffirming that terrorism remains one of the most severe threats to international peace and security. The statement also expressed deep concern over the exploitation of emerging technologies, including the internet, satellite communications, virtual assets, and drones, for terrorist purposes.
"Over the past 25 years, international counterterrorism cooperation has continued to deepen, and a global counterterrorism architecture with the United Nations at its core has gradually taken shape. Meanwhile, the threat of international terrorism persists, terrorist activities have become decentralized and fragmented, and emerging technologies are being misused for terrorist purposes," said Sun.
To address these technological risks, Sun called for refining global governance rules and regulatory frameworks, while enhancing capacity building for developing countries in utilizing new technologies to combat terrorism.
The Chinese envoy stressed that the international community must strengthen solidarity, uphold the UN's central coordinating role, and intensify crackdown on terrorist activities while eliminating their root causes.
"The Security Council should work to promote the political settlement of hotspot issues, resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation, and eliminate the breeding grounds for terrorism. At the same time, it should oppose the politicization and instrumentalization of counter-terrorism and avoid linking terrorism to any particular country, ethnicity or religion," said Sun.
He also called for strengthening border control, intelligence sharing, and joint counter-terrorism operations, and bolstering law enforcement and independent response capabilities of developing countries.
Sun said China will continue to actively participate in global counter-terrorism cooperation under frameworks such as the UN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS.
China will share its counter-terrorism experience and assist other countries in capacity-building, thereby playing a constructive role in advancing global counter-terrorism cooperation, said the Chinese envoy.
China warns of emerging terrorism risks, urges elimination of breeding grounds
