On Friday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses among the major markets in the region, as the index dropped 1.6% to 24,531.62. It is worth mentioning that, shares of Chinese tech giants listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell on August 7.
For example, shares of the Chinese tech giant Tencent fell 5.04%. Tencent is the owner of WeChat. Moreover, shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation plunged 8.7%.
Mainland Chinese stocks also saw losses on the day. The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.96% to approximately 3,354.04. At the same time, the Shenzhen Component fell 1.548% to around 13,648.50.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.39% to close at 22,329.94. The Topix index fell 0.2% to end its trading day at 1,546.74.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.62% to close at 6,004.80.
Interestingly, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.39% to end its trading day at 2,351.67.
Asian companies and the Trump administration
Last week, Korean Air Lines reported a net profit in the second quarter of the year, thanks to strong cargo demand. Interestingly, shares of the country’s flag carrier gained 5.52% on Friday. It goes without saying that, the coronavirus pandemic created a lot of problems for the global airline industry. Unfortunately, it could take several years to recover from this crisis. Nevertheless, despite all challenges the country’s flag carrier was able to adapt to the new reality.
Importantly, last week U.S. President issued executive orders regarding WeChat and TikTok. Those orders would ban both WeChat and TikTok from operating in the U.S. if their owners won’t sell WeChat and TikTok. As a result, Chinese-owned parent companies have 45 days to sell TikTok and WeChat.
Tensions between the U.S. and China represent a serious issue and Trump’s decision could create even bigger problems. The coronavirus pandemic already caused severe damage to the global economy. There is no need to create additional problems.
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