High alert: People stand with umbrellas under heavy rain and wind during Typhoon Ragasa yesterday. It marked the biggest test yet for a change implemented last year by the Hong Kong stock exchange to keep trading open during severe weather. — AFP
HONG KONG: Bankers and traders hunkered down at home or booked hotels near the office as Super Typhoon Ragasa descended on the Asian financial hub.
The big international banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and HSBC Holdings Plc, told most employees to work from home before the typhoon unleashed a deluge of rain and winds of up to 195km per hour early yesterday.
Ragasa marked the biggest test yet for a change implemented last year by the Hong Kong stock exchange to keep trading open during severe weather.
The Hong Kong Observatory, the local weather bureau, issued its highest storm warning overnight, known as signal No 10, which indicated hurricane-force winds.
The alert is expected to remain in place “for some time,” it said.
With markets open, most firms will need some employees in the office to execute trades and set prices. That created a rush for centrally located hotel rooms as workers seek to avoid long commutes from home.
The Mandarin Oriental, across from HSBC’s local head office, was almost fully booked when checked by Bloomberg News on Tuesday.
Rooms have also been snapped up at downtown hotels such as the Four Seasons and those connected to the Pacific Place mall on the edge of the central banking district.
Bankers and traders who are needed in the office were greeted with largely empty streets early yesterday.
The city has closed government offices and schools. Passenger flights in and out of Hong Kong were suspended for 36 hours from 6pm local time on Tuesday.
Ragasa has pushed some conferences and forums scheduled for today online, including a gathering on fixed income and currencies.
Loan bankers rushed to get paperwork signed to keep deals moving, while others dashed to the airport to catch flights ahead of the shutdown to close transactions.
The storm may delay the trading debut of Zijin Gold International Co, which is seeking to raise US$3.2bil in the world’s biggest initial public offering in months.
Retail investors may need another day or two to place orders in bank branches.
Activity at brokerages was already curtailed on Tuesday, when the city hoisted its signal 8.
Ragasa could be the most dangerous typhoon in the city since Mangkhut in 2018, which caused economic losses, including insurance claims, of HK$4.6bil.
“It’s just me, one trader, and our IT guy holding down the fort at the office now,” Thomas Ip, executive director at Gaoyu Securities Ltd, said in an interview on Tuesday. Clients were also closing trading positions ahead of the storm, he said.
“They’re hesitant to act until the storm passes, especially with forecasts saying this could be worse than Mangkhut,” Ip said. “Most are staying on the sidelines, planning to re-enter on Friday.”
Hong Kong has one of the best-performing developed stock markets in the world this year, with its benchmark index gaining more than 30%, trailing only Greece and Spain. — Bloomberg
