New Chinese Tech Exchange a Bright Spot as Global Stocks Waver

By Avantika Chilkoti 

-- Most Asian stocks down; European shares waver

-- Brent crude oil price gains 2.2%

-- Koninklijke Philips up 4.6%

China's new market for homegrown technology stocks opened with a rally on Monday. Of the 25 companies traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Science and Technology Innovation Board, also known as the STAR market, a semiconductor group and medical instrument maker surged the most.

Other Asian markets dropped, however, with China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively.

Concerns about public unrest rattled the Hong Kong stock market Monday, with property developers and retail landlords leading the decline. Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's largest developer by market capitalization, fell 2.6%, its biggest drop in two weeks.

Francis Lun, chief executive officer at brokerage Geo Securities, said the financial market has begun to feel the pinch as lingering public unrest will likely hurt retail spending and investment sentiment.

"The longer these demonstrations and unrest persist, the more serious of a toll both in real and psychological terms will negatively impact on Hong Kong's financial center and retail sentiment," Mr. Lun said.

In the U.S. and Europe, investors braced for fresh economic data this week as expectations for interest-rate cuts from both major central banks grew. The U.S. Commerce Department will report second-quarter growth figures on Friday.

The European market wavered Monday as earnings season rolled on. Shares in Dutch technology group, Koninklijke Philips, jumped after the company posted better-than-expected results early Monday, with rising sales and margins.

Meanwhile, shares in Whitbread, the hotels and restaurants group that includes Premier Inn, lost 4.1%. The company said it had returned GBP2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) to shareholders following the sale of its Costa coffee chain last year.

In commodities, the price of Brent crude rose to $63.86 a barrel as tensions mounted in the Persian Gulf. Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf on Friday.

--Joanne Chiu contributed to this article.

Write to Avantika Chilkoti at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2019 06:05 ET (10:05 GMT)

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