Mainland Chinese Stocks Fell Due to the Omicron Variant

Mainland Chinese stocks dropped on Tuesday, tracking other losses in Asia-Pacific markets, as Covid’s new variant returned to focus. 

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined 1.33% to close at 23,635.96. Tech stocks fell, with Alibaba down almost 2%, Tencent losing 1.46%. The Hang Seng index dropped 2.28%.

Shares of Weibo declined fell more than 9%. China’s cyberspace regulator fined the firm’s operator. The Cyberspace Administration of China fined Weibo’s operator BJ Weimeng Innovation and Technology Company because some accounts and content violated relevant laws and regulations. The social media giant said it will put the necessary rectification in place. It plans to take other measures as well. 

 Since its trading debut in Hong Kong last week, the company’s stock lost more than 10%. 

In the meantime, China Mobile announced in a filing that it received approval from regulators for a secondary listing in Shanghai. 

Mainland Chinese stocks declined on Tuesday. The Shanghai composite dropped 0.53% to end its trading day at 3,661.53. The Shenzhen component fell 0.5% to 15,136.78.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.73% to finish its trading day 28,432.64. The Topix fell 0.22% to 1,973.81. 

Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.46% to 2,987.95, with tech names in the red. LG Electronics declined 4.1%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded near flat to close at 7,378.40. 

Stocks and risk factors

Caution on the new Omicron variant prevailed once more as the U.K. confirmed that at least one patient infected with the Omicron variant died in the country. This week, China reported its first Omicron case. 

U.S. stocks declined on Monday. The S&P 500 dropped 0.9% to 4,668.97 and sits about 1.6% from its intraday record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 320 points to 35,650.95. On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4% to 15,413.28.