Chinese stocks declined Monday as U.S. markets surged, highlighting growing investor concern over Beijing’s slowing economy and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Chinese shares dropped more than 2% amid signs that China’s government may hold back additional economic stimulus after Trump paused the 145% tariffs he implemented on the country for 90 days, Bloomberg reported. The Hang Seng Index — which tracks major Chinese companies listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange — fell 2%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 3.3%.
Export-heavy companies led the sell-off. Sunny Optical Technology Group and BYD Electronic International both plunged more than 7%, according to the South China Morning Post. E-commerce giant JD.com declined 2.1%, while Alibaba slid 3.9% and Tencent fell 2.2%.
Founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma on January 7th, 2020 in China. (Photo by Wang HE/Getty Images)
The decline “reflects worries that Chinese policymakers would have less incentive to push through higher fiscal spending or enact more stimulus,” according to analysts who spoke to Bloomberg.
“The weekend’s outcome significantly reduces the probability of China’s fiscal stimulus in the third quarter,” Claire Huang, a strategist at Amundi Investment Institute, told SCMP.
Other analysts were worried at the prospect of Trump restarting the tariffs.
“There is still uncertainty as to whether there will be any back and forth in the 90-day buffer period,” Shen Meng, a Chinese investment banker, told Bloomberg.
China’s government recently attempted to prop up its faltering economy by cutting interest rates and lowering mortgage payments. The country’s export sector, which employs over 16 million people, saw new orders fall to the lowest level since 2022. Cargo shipments to the U.S. collapsed 60%, the services sector hit a seven-month low, and the nation’s six largest banks reported first-quarter profits down nearly $2 billion from last year. (RELATED: China’s Export Economy Under Trump’s Tariff Onslaught The Worst Since COVID)
Meanwhile, Wall Street soared on the heels of the 90-day trade truce between the U.S. and China. The Nasdaq jumped 4.3%, the S&P 500 climbed 3.2%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked 2.8%, signaling renewed investor confidence in the U.S. economy.