HSI gains ground but Indonesian stocks plunge

Asian shares mostly advanced on Friday, a day after a tech sell-off dragged stocks lower, while Indonesia’s stock market plunged following a downgrade warning. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 124 points or 0.5 percent to close at 24,186. Mainland stocks ended mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.24 percent to 3,716 and the Shenzhen Component Index losing 0.12 percent at 11,802. The Star Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 0.18 percent lower at 1,584, while the Star 50 Index shed 0.06 percent at 1,358. In Indonesia, the Jakarta Composite index fell more than 10 percent after index provider MSCI warned it would downgrade Indonesia from its “emerging market” status, triggering growing concerns of capital flight. In a surprise move, MSCI said it would put Indonesia on a path to a "standalone market" status, worse than the previously flagged "frontier" category. The Jakarta Composite Index plunged as much as 11.4 percent to its lowest point since early November 2020, clocking its worst one-day drop since January 1998. Seoul jumped more than two percent to 5,668 and Tokyo climbed 1.4 percent to 65,324, after they slumped 7.6 percent and 4.9 percent respectively a day earlier. US Federal Reserve chief Kevin Warsh said on Friday that AI was the "most consequential change" to the global economy in his lifetime, predicting its effects would be positive but the path forward "bumpy". (Agencies) Edited by Aaron Tam

2026-10-16 17:13:00