Hong Kong raises storm warning as typhoon Lionrock lashes South China Sea

Rescue personnel at the scene where bamboo scaffolding by a high-rise residential building collapsed onto a road, following strong winds and heavy rain from weather patterns from a tropical storm, in Hong Kong on October 8, 2021. - AFP

HONG KONG, Oct 9 (Reuters): Hong Kong authorities issued its third highest storm signal early Saturday, shutting down transport networks, schools and offices as Tropical Storm Lionrock lashed the northern South China Sea.

The city's weather observatory raised its No. 8 storm warning signal at 6.40am (1040 GMT) local time and said it would likely remain in place through the morning.

Lionrock combined with surging northern monsoon winds and heavy rain on Friday to batter the city, with one female construction worker killed when scaffolding collapsed in the Happy Valley suburb.

On another note, Hong Kong shares finished 0.6% higher on Friday (Oct 8), led by tech and financial stocks amid easing political tensions between China and the United States.

Tracking gains made overnight on Wall Street, the Hang Seng index rose to 24,837.85, while the China Enterprises Index climbed 0.7% to 8,775.65.

** The U.S. and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the year's end.

** The information technology subindex rose 2.2%.

** Index heavyweight Alibaba Group jumped 5.6%, the biggest daily gainer on the city's benchmark.

** Internet giants Tencent Holdings and Meituan added more than 2% each.

** The financials subindex ended 0.4% higher, with China Life Insurance Co and Ping An Insurance Group climbing 4.2% and 2.8% respectively.

** WuXi Biologics Inc and Li Ning Co fell more than 5.8% each.

** The healthcare subindex, the energy subindex , the industrial subindex, and utility subindex logged declines of between 1.5% and 3%. - Reuters