The sight of street protests, tear gas and barricades in the business district is usually not conducive to a stock market rally. But more than a week into Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest movement, investors might well be wondering what all the fuss was about.
Yesterday the Hang Seng index closed 0.5 per cent higher – a third straight day of gains – and has now almost erased the losses suffered during the first three days of the civil disobedience campaign last week.
Throughout the movement – which has also shut down schools, businesses and the main government office building – analysts have remained sanguine, pointing instead to US interest rates as the principal risk.