Stocks in China and Hong Kong continued to slide on the second trading day of this week, despite earlier announcement of better-than-expected growth in retail sales.
In the afternoon trading session, mainland China SSE Composite Index fell 3.11% as concerns over rising Covid-19 cases to a new high since the end of its first lockdown in 2020 caused investors to trade cautiously. Currently, at least 11 cities and counties in China have been locked down.
Meanwhile, Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong continued to weigh Hang Seng Index down on Tuesday, as the main index fell 4.04% amid fear of delisting U.S.-listed American depositary receipts of Chinese companies.
Yesterday, SSEC closed 3.57% lower while Hang Seng Index fell 5%.
Earlier this morning, China reported better-than-expected growth in retail sales for the first two months of 2022, rising 6.7% YoY, largely topping analysts polled by Reuters of 3% growth. Petroleum products and gold, silver and jewelry saw the greatest increases.
