Macao casinos, Chinese stocks hit amid fear of new Covid restrictions and tech crackdown
Jul 11, 2022
Hong Kong, July 11 : Amid fears of new Covid restrictions and a renewed regulatory offensive against big tech companies, Macao casinos were ordered to close down and the Chinese stocks fell on Monday.
China's tech stocks plunged after the country's antitrust regulator imposed fresh fines on a batch of A-list companies, rekindling fears that Beijing is still not lifting the pressure on the country's embattled internet giants, reported CNN.
Moreover, casinos in the gambling hub of Macao were ordered to close for the first time since February 2020 because of a Covid outbreak.
Macao casino stocks declined across the board after the city's government ordered a week-long lockdown of most business operations, including cinemas, bars, and public swimming pools. Melco International Development plummeted 7.1 per cent. Sands China (SCHYF) lost 8.2 per cent and Galaxy Entertainment (GXYEF) sank 4.9 per cent.
The move sent shares of their operating companies plunging, and fears of new lockdowns in Shanghai undermined the broader China market, reported CNN.
Earlier, top government officials had signalled an easing of President Xi Jinping's bruising tech crackdown, but the latest move from the top market regulator sparked a fresh stock sell-off.
Late Sunday, the State Administration for Market Regulation said it had fined a number of technology companies for violating anti-monopoly rules on the disclosure of transactions.
The watchdog released a list of 28 mergers and acquisitions involving Tencent, Alibaba, Bilibili, Sina Weibo, Lenovo, and Ping An Health, that it said had not been reported to the regulator, reported CNN.
Shares of Alibaba (BABA) sank 5.8 per cent in Hong Kong on Monday. Tencent (TCEHY) tumbled 2.9 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index was down about 4 per cent.
The top loser among Asia's major indexes was the Hang Seng Index -- down 2.8 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.3 per cent, reported CNN.
Several Chinese cities have imposed new curbs after discovering cases involving the new Omicron BA.5 subvariant. Shanghai, which had just recently emerged from a two-month lockdown, identified its first BA.5 variant case on Friday and will perform two rounds of Covid tests between July 12 and July 14, a health official said on Sunday.
So far, 31 Chinese cities are under full or partial lockdowns or implementing strict mobility restrictions, affecting 247.5 million people, according to estimates by Nomura published on Monday, reported CNN.
