Hong Kong stocks rise alongside Asian markets as investors focus on Trump’s improving health outlook

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An electronic board showing the various stock market indices is seen in Central, Hong Kong. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong stocks gained at the lunch break along with other Asian markets, as investors focused on the improving health outlook of US President Donald Trump who tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.5 per cent to 23,801.97 at noon on Monday, after reopening following a two-day holiday. The benchmark had slumped 6.8 per cent in September for its first monthly decline since May.

Trump briefly left hospital on Sunday afternoon and took a quick drive past supporters gathered outside. The president’s medical team confirmed that his blood oxygen level had dropped suddenly twice in recent days, but said he could be discharged as early as Monday.

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Reports that Trump could be discharged from hospital as soon as Monday would reduce uncertainty around a possible delay to the US presidential election, said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi.

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US President Donald Trump works in a conference room while receiving treatment for Covid-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

“As long as President Trump is still fighting Covid-19, everything else is of secondary importance, so the health of the President will matter to both the polls and risk sentiment in general,” said Innes.

In Hong Kong, HSBC led gains, rising as much as 7 per cent to HK$31.90. China’s Ping An Insurance Group raised its stake in Hong Kong’s largest currency issuing bank earlier in September, saying that HSBC was a long-term investment. The bank’s share price had fallen to a 25-year low on September 22, after media reports that it and other banks processed trillions of dollars in money transfers despite concerns about potential criminal activity.

Standard Chartered, also named in the report, increased 4.6 per cent. Insurance provider AIA gained 4.5 per cent, while China Life Insurance rose 4.4 per cent.

Some 18 constituent stocks of the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell at the midday break.

China’s top chip maker SMIC plunged 5.2 per cent to HK$17.18. The company said it was “conducting assessments on the relevant impacts” of the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s export restrictions on its business and operations, in a filing to the exchange on Sunday.

Markets in China will reopen on October 9 following the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays.

Markets in the rest of Asia also gained. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.3 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 2.4 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi increased 1.3 per cent.

Japan and South Korea could agree to reopen short and long-term business travel between the two countries as early as this week, the Nikkei reported, citing government sources on both sides.

Australia will also allow New Zealanders to travel to New South Wales and its Northern Territory without having to quarantine for two weeks from October 16, Reuters reported.

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