HONG KONG: China’s massive financial markets may remain closed until next Monday after authorities extended the Lunar New Year break by three days as they grapple with the worsening virus crisis.
There has been no official comment from the China Securities Regulatory Commission or the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges on whether markets will reopen on Friday as originally planned. In 2003, officials extended a May Day holiday market closure by four trading days during the outbreak of SARS.
China’s stock market, the world’s second largest, last saw trading on Jan. 23, when the Shanghai benchmark tumbled 2.8% in the worst eve to a Lunar Year in its three-decade history. Futures on the FTSE China A50 Index sank as much as 5.5% in Singapore on Monday, while the offshore yuan dropped 0.5% as of 10:21 a.m. Singapore time.
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