Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has seen its biggest market fall for 36 years today. It dropped 13.7%.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “It’s rare to see double-digit falls in a single day for a major stock index, yet today is one of those days that will go down in history.
“Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dived 13.7% as investors played catch-up in pricing in tariff risks in Asia after parts of its stock market were closed last Friday. In essence, Asia is lumping two horrible days on the market into one.
“That is the fourth biggest one-day decline ever in the Hang Seng*. We’re seeing the biggest falls in Asia because it arguably has the most to lose from Trump’s tariffs.
“Asian countries have thrived from selling goods to the West, with places like the US having been hungry to access cheap labour.
“Asia became a huge manufacturing hub to the US and this situation now threatens to crumble unless Trump backs down or deals can be made to lower tariffs.
“It wasn’t just Asia struggling on the markets on Monday. We saw capitulation as indices also slumped across Europe, extending losses from last week and resulting in many blue-chip stocks falling by high single digits and even low double digits.”
