Hong Kong’s Hang Seng drops nearly 2% as tech shares fall; investors monitor bitcoin volatility

SINGAPORE - Chinese stocks fell in afternoon trading Monday, as investors monitored bitcoin prices after it fell dramatically over the weekend. Oil prices skyrocketed during the Asian trade.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.76% to close at 23,349.38, due to the decline in tech stocks. JD fell 4.85% and Tencent it was down 3.2%.

Alibaba Hong Kong shares fell nearly 8% in early trading, but then rallied slightly to close 5.61%. The company announced Toby Xu, its deputy chief financial officer, will succeed Maggie Wu as chief financial officer. That change will take effect on April 1.

That followed Friday's losses in shares of US-listed Chinese companies, as they fell due to concerns about tighter regulatory scrutiny after Didi announced that it would be delisting on the New York Stock Exchange.

Four new stocks, including Chinese tech giants JD and Netease - They were added to Hang Seng landmark index. The latest update increases the number of stocks in the main index to 64, from the current 60 stocks.

At the same time, troubled Chinese real estate developer Evergrande will be removed from the China Companies index.

Evergrande, mired in debt trouble, warned in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday that it had received a lawsuit to repay about $ 260 million.

"In the event that the Group is unable to meet its guarantee obligations or other financial obligations, it may lead creditors to demand an acceleration of repayment," he said.

After meeting the latest last-minute interest payments, the company faces another grace period for debt payments of $ 82.5 million, according to Reuters.

Evergrande the shares fell nearly 20% on Monday.

From Japan Nikkei 225 compared previous losses, falling 0.36% to close at 27,927.37, while the Topix was down 0.53% to 1,947.54. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.17% to close at 2,973.25, reversing from a previous 1% decline.

From Australia S & P / ASX 200 it closed near the flat line at 7,245.10, also rebounding from previous slight losses.

MSCI's broader Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan fell 0.83%.

Stocks in the region and around the world have seen turbulent trading since last week due to fears surrounding the new omicron variant.

"This week would be crucial as we would probably get a better reading of gravity from Omicron," DBS wrote in a Monday note. "During the Delta rally in August, tech stocks held up better. That didn't happen this time, with the Nasdaq correcting more than the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones index."

"The combination of Omicron fears, the next tougher Fed policy and weak equity sentiment is proving difficult to digest, creating demand for longer-term US Treasury security," added.

Investors will continue to monitor cryptocurrencies after bitcoin prices they were volatile all weekend, falling sharply Saturday afternoon in Asian time. Bitcoin initially lost around 17%, or $ 10,000, falling to a low near $ 43,000.

Bitcoin was at $ 48,803 as of Monday afternoon during Asian hours. Still, the cryptocurrency has lost more than 10% since Friday.

the US dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of its peers, was at 96.344, rising sharply from levels around 96.1 in previous days.

the japanese yen it was trading at 113.10 per dollar, weakening slightly. the Australian dollar It was at $ 0.7016, rising from levels around $ 0.69 earlier.