Asian Markets Slide; Hong Kong Protests Remain in Focus

Investing.com - Asian markets slid in morning trade on Thursday as Hong Kong stocks slumped amid violent clashes between protesters and police over a controversial extradition bill.

China’s Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component fell 0.2% and 0.6% respectively by 10:30 PM ET (02:30 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.1%. The gauge slumped 2% on Wednesday amid mass protests in the city over a planned bill that would allow extradition to Mainland China. The index fell a further 1.7% earlier today to below the 27,000 level, but recovered slightly later on.

In other news, Guo Shuqing, head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said this morning that the country plans to further open up its banking, securities and insurance sectors, Reuters reported citing Guo’s speech at a financial forum in Shanghai, but did not give further details on China’s plans.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.6%.

South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.8%. Hyundai Motor made headlines after the company said in a statement that it is co-investing in self-driving car software company Aurora with Kia Motors Group.

"With the new investment, the companies have agreed to expand research to a wide range of models and to build an optimal platform for Hyundai and Kia's autonomous vehicles," Hyundai said. The investment is worth more than $600 million, Aurora said in a blog post.

Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 slipped 0.1%.

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