HONG KONG: Bragging rights to Hong Kong, for now.
The city’s equity market has overtaken Japan to be the world’s third largest in value, behind only the U.S. and mainland China, courtesy of a rebound in Hong Kong stocks after their worst year since 2011.
Hong Kong’s market cap was $5.78 trillion as of Tuesday, the latest available data show, compared with $5.76 trillion for Japan.
The Asian city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 17 percent this year through Tuesday, when it closed at its highest since June 15.
Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. has been the main driver with a 22 percent gain. Japan’s Topix Index advanced 8.3 percent in that period.
Both markets were lower Wednesday, as an economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund renewed concern about a slowdown in global growth and after the U.S. threatened tariffs on the European Union.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent as of 11:38 a.m. in Hong Kong, still just above the 30,000-point level that it broke through earlier this month. The Topix was down 0.7 percent. - Bloomberg
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