HONG KONG, June 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks fell on
Friday and were set for their sharpest weekly decline since
March as hawkish comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell dampened market sentiment. .
Both the indexes rose as much as 0.8% in early trade.
Both the Nifty and Sensex tumbled 3% on Monday, snapping six straight sessions of gains as the new virus strain dimmed hopes of a global economic recovery.
On Tuesday, the Nifty Media index was down 4.25% and the Nifty PSU Bank index fell 3.3%.
Shares of India’s most valuable company, Reliance Industries Ltd, slipped as much as 2.64% and were the top drag.
Airline stocks also extended losses after India announced suspension of all flights from the UK to the country until the end of the year.
Interglobe Aviation fell as much as 5.44% and SpiceJet Ltd slid 10%. Broader Asian shares extended a pullback from multi-year highs hit last week on concerns over the highly infectious new strain of COVID-19. (Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
An update on the farm protests.
Reuters reports: The Indian government on Tuesday appealed to farmers to hold further talks to break a nearly month-long deadlock over their demand for the repeal of agricultural reform laws, but farmers leaders declined to relent unless these laws are withdrawn.
Thousands of protesters have camped on the outskirts of New Delhi and blocked national highways for over three weeks to protest against new laws that the government says would increase farmers income through more private investments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi s government has urged the farmers to engage in talks to end the deadlock over the three reform laws introduced in September, but the farmers insist the laws would hit them economically while benefiting big retailers.