Not just China’s stock exchanges have come under pressure. By midweek, stocks were also falling in Hong Kong and several other Asian countries. But concerns about rising tensions between China and Western countries have been driven by investors in Chinese equities.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange‘s aggregate index lost 1.3 percent during Wednesday’s trading, falling to its lowest level since December 24 last year. The CSI300 index, which includes blue chips stocks, even weakened by 1.61 percent. Below was the last time on December 11. Indexes charting titles from the commodities and transport sectors saw the biggest losses, when there was a roughly four percent drop in both cases. The smaller Shenzhen stock exchange lost 1.41 percent.
Chinese stock markets are under pressure because of concerns about escalating tensions between China and Western countries, particularly the United States. Poor sentiment also spilled over to the Hong Kong stock exchange, which weakened by more than two per cent. The Hang Seng index hit a 10-week low. Hong Kong also responded to the projected weakening of the New York Stock Exchange, which actually occurred.
Adding to the decline were other Asian bourses, led by Tokyo, whose Nikkei index weakened by more than two percent. Only markets in Malaysia and the Philippines showed a slight upward movement.
