Hang Seng index biggest winners and losers in 2024 revealed

The Hang Seng index has underperformed its global peers in 2024. It has barely moved from where it started the year while most indices like the CAC 40, Nasdaq 100, and S&P 5O0 indices have surged to their record highs.

Hang Seng index chart

The Hang Seng index remains about 27% below its highest level in 2023, meaning that it is in a deep bear market. This performance is mostly because of the lack of interest for Chinese equities by Western investors. Also, tensions between China and the US have escalated recently.

Most companies in the index have retreated this year. Wuxi AppTec and Wuxi Biologics have been the worst-performing companies in the Hang Seng index this year as they tumbled by more than 53% as they became targets of the American government.

American officials have warned about the security threat posed by the companies because they are headquartered in China. In a statement on Friday, US Intelligence officials warned that Wuxi AppTek had shared US data with Beijing. They are also concerned that the company is contributing to the success of Chinese military.

Sunny Optical share price has tumbled by over 43% this year as the company’s growth decelerated. Its most recent earnings showed that its revenue and profits retreated sharply in the fourth quarter of last year.

The other notable laggards in the Hang Seng index in Q1 were companies like New World, Jd Health, Hang Lung, Country Garden Services, and Alibaba Health Services. Most real estate companies have come under pressure as the industry implodes. Recent data revealed that China’s house prices continued falling this year. 

Other well-known Hang Seng index companies have also tumbled. For example. Li Auto stock is down by 18% this year as woes in the electric vehicle market rose. Lenovo stock has dropped by 17% this year.

Other Hang Seng companies have done well this year. CNOOC, the giant oil and gas company, has jumped by 40% this year, helped by the rising oil prices. It has been followed by companies like China Hongqiao, a leading aluminium company, Xinyi Solar, PetroChina, and Trip.com.

Looking ahead, the Hang Seng index will likely remain under pressure in the second quarter even as the Chinese economy showed signs of stabilisation. Data published on Sunday revealed that the manufacturing PMI rose to 50.8 while the non-manufacturing PMI jumped to 53. The two figures were higher than the estimated 50.1 and 51.3.