Hang Seng falls as super typhoon nears

The Hang Seng dropped 185 points, or 0.7%, to close at 26,159 on Tuesday, its second straight decline and the lowest in nearly two weeks.

Sentiment weakened as China’s policy measures fell short of expectations following a press briefing by top financial regulators on Monday, including the PBoC governor.

Locally, Hong Kong shut down ahead of Super Typhoon Ragasa, with most flights suspended until Thursday.

In the U.S., three Fed officials signaled the need for caution on inflation, while markets awaited a speech from Chair Powell later today. Losses were partly limited by pledges from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to improve the quality of listed firms, attract global capital, and tighten supervision.

Most sectors declined, with tech slipping nearly 1.5% as traders shrugged off reports of Nvidia’s potential investment in OpenAI.

Pharma stocks also fell sharply, including Sino Biopharma (-4.9%), CSPC Pharma (-4.2%), Wuxi Biologics (-1.4%), and Innovent Biologics (-1.0%).