Hong Kong investors prepared for a stock-market retreat and made arrangements to work outside the financial district amid the biggest police crackdown on protesters since the city returned to Chinese rule.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index will probably open “sharply” lower, according to Kingston Financial Group Ltd. Hong Kong’s currency will face selling pressure and funding costs may rise, Brilliant & Bright Investment
Consultancy Ltd. predicted. BNP Paribas Investment Partners will shift staff to a site in Kowloon, a 15-minute ferry ride north across the harbor from Hong Kong island.
Police clad in riot gear used tear gas and pepper spray to scatter protesters after they surrounded government buildings and blocked traffic on main roads in and around the Central business district, home to the world’s fifth-largest stock market. Thousands of demonstrators remained at 3.30 a.m., with highways still obstructed by makeshift barriers. The showdown adds to concerns about falling retail sales and rising U.S. interest rates that have fueled a 6.5 percent drop in the Hang Seng index from this year’s high on Sept. 3.
“Sentiment will be bad,” said Arthur Kwong, the Hong Kong-based head of Asia Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, which manages about $650 billion. “Unfortunately, the macro fundamentals are weak already.”
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. said it’s closely monitoring the protests and has contingency plans.
Bloomberg News
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