Hong Kong Shares Lead Slump In Asian Market

Shares fell more than 3% in Hong Kong on Monday in holiday-thinned trading in Asia, with other big markets in Tokyo and Shanghai closed, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Bull statues by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Other regional benchmarks also fell after Wall Street wrapped up last week with another decline. Investors are watching to see whether the Federal Reserve will take any action to address the impact of rising prices on businesses and consumers.

Hong Kong property companies and banks lost ground on persisting concerns over the potential for ripple effects from the financial troubles of Chinese developer Evergrande. The company was expected to miss interest payments, as ratings companies forecast it may default on its debt.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 3.5% to 24,035.30 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.6% to 7,287.90. Markets were closed in mainland China, South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.37% from 1.38% on Friday.

Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Friday, marking a feeble ending to an up-and-down week of trading. The S&P 500 index lost 0.9% to 4,432.99, for its second straight weekly loss.

Roughly 80% of the stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 fell, and every sector except health care was in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 34,584.88, and the Nasdaq fell 0.9% to 15,043.97.

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC