Alibaba Group Holding and the US-China Trade Impact on Hong Kong Stocks

Market Reactions to the US-China Trade Tensions

Stocks in Hong Kong and other major Asia-Pacific markets tumbled on Friday, tracking steep overnight losses in New York, as investors brace for more US-China trade hostility amid heightened recession risks. US equities, bonds, and currency weakened while gold set new highs after the White House clarified that tariffs on Chinese goods rose to 145 percent.

Key Indices Performance

• The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.4 percent to 20,589.82, marking a 9.9 percent decline this week.
• The Hang Seng Tech Index retreated 0.1 percent.
• The CSI 300 Index dropped 0.6 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 percent.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunged 4.7 percent recently, while South Korea's Kospi Index lost 1.3 percent and Australia's ASX 200 Index slid 1.1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.5 percent in New York on Thursday, and the S&P 500 Index sank 3.5 percent.

Economic Outlook and Recession Concerns

According to Stephen Innes, managing director at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok, “We're still staring at a full-blown US-China economic divorce. Nobody's hitting the brakes.” In Hong Kong, notable declines were observed in major stocks: Trip.com slumped 6.6 percent, Lenovo Group fell 3.7 percent, and HSBC tumbled 1.9 percent. Alibaba Group Holding lost 2.2 percent, while Baidu declined 1.5 percent.

JPMorgan Chase reported that recession fears in stocks tied to the US economy have spiked to 79 percent based on the bank's market-based indicators. Other asset classes also sounded alarms, with the S&P 500 pricing in a 62 percent chance of a downturn.