Investors worldwide issued a skeptical verdict on Xi Jinping’s third term in office, selling shares in Chinese companies after the country’s leader wrapped up a Communist party congress that signaled a shift in focus from the economy to security, reports the Financial Times. The sell-off began on Monday morning in Asia, where Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech index fell 9.7%, its second largest one-day drop. It continued into the US trading day, where several of the most well-known Chinese tech groups listed on Wall Street fell sharply.
Nasdaq’s Golden Dragon index, which tracks US-listed shares in Chinese companies, fell 14.4% as Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo faced heavy selling. The record one-day drop for the index left it down by about 50% this year.
Analysts said that the sell-off was compounded by Beijing’s release of economic data, delayed while the party congress was under way, that showed China’s economy grew by 3.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, below the government’s annual goal of 5.5%.
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