SINGAPORE — Hong Kong-listed shares of Standard Chartered and HSBC tumbled on Monday following reports that they allegedly moved large sums of suspicious funds.
In Monday morning trade, shares of Standard Chartered tumbled 2.96% and HSBC fell 3.23%. The moves came after the banks — among several global lenders — were identified in media reports as having allegedly moved suspicious funds over a period of nearly two decades, according to Reuters. The reports cited confidential documents submitted by banks to the U.S. government.
“Eventually … (the U.S. government) will probably pursue on the fines,” Jackson Wong, asset management director at Amber Hill Capital, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.
“That means more fine payments from this two banks,” he said. “This kind of litigations will not go away. So, we expect to see how … HSBC will react, but some kind of fine payment … will be … in the pipeline.”
Asis markets mixed
Markets in Asia-Pacific were mixed in morning trade, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down about 0.5%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed The Shanghai composite was down about 0.1% while the Shenzhen component rose 0.107%. China’s one-year and five-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) on Monday were kept unchanged at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively.
South Korea’s Kospi was fractionally higher. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.72%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.08% lower.
Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.84 after last week’s decline from levels above 93.3.
The Japanese yen traded at 104.34 per dollar after strengthening in the previous trading week from levels above 105.6 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7312 after trading last week between levels above $0.732 and below $0.729.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up slightly to $43.18 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were 0.1% higher at $41.15 per barrel.
Source: CNBC