Global stocks fall amid fears of new Covid lockdowns in China
Global stock markets fell sharply on Monday as fears of new lockdowns in China added to concerns over the health of the world economy.
China’s benchmark share index posted its biggest one-day tumble since February 2020, after Beijing’s biggest district began mass testing for Covid-19 because of a rise in infections in the capital.
The CSI 300 index fell by 4.9% to hit its lowest level since late May 2020, as authorities ordered that residents in Chaoyang, home to 3.45 million people, should be tested three times this week. Raw materials producers, technology companies and industrial groups were among the major fallers.
Fears that restrictions will be imposed in Beijing also prompted panic buying at supermarkets, as residents braced for curbs similar to those implemented in Shanghai, where a lockdown has entered its fourth week.
On Sunday, a municipality official warned that Beijing’s outbreak was “spreading stealthily” from unknown sources, and “developing rapidly”.
Concerns that China could impose further lockdowns, slowing its recovery, hit markets across the region, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shedding 3.7% and Australia’s S&P/ASX index off 1.5%.
In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped by 141 points, or 1.9%, to 7380.5 points, its lowest close in more than five weeks. Mining stocks and energy firms led the fallers, as new curbs in China could hit demand for metals, coal and oil. Anglo American lost 6.85%, BP fell 6.2% and Glencore dropped 5.6%.
Stocks fell across Europe, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index losing 1.8% despite relief that Emmanuel Macron had won Sunday’s French presidential election. Wall Street added to Friday’s losses, with the S&P 500 down 1% by midday.
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