Hong Kong Stocks Test Support After Protests Shut Down City

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong stocks are testing support levels after worsening violence and citywide shutdowns over the three-day weekend.

The MSCI Hong Kong Index fell 0.1% to drop below the 14,200 level to its lowest since January. The gauge erased a gain of as much as 0.9% earlier in the day. New World Development Co. and Link REIT were among the leading decliners. The measure previously found support around 14,200 since the protests began in the summer.

Violence swept the city on Friday after the local administration invoked an emergency law to ban face masks, with a number of banks, businesses and railway stations damaged. A teenager was shot and wounded by police, while the MTR Corp. suspended all train services on Saturday. The railway operator lost 0.1%.

Visitor arrivals plunged 50% during the Oct. 1-6 National Day holiday period from a year earlier, according to the city’s leader Carrie Lam. She said the government will offer support to industries affected by the protests and called for developers and store owners to provide relief measures, during a regular news conference Tuesday.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. slumped 3.7% to a decade-low.

One bright spot: Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. climbed 2.3% after dropping its 29.6 billion-pound ($36.4 billion) unsolicited takeover bid for London Stock Exchange Group Plc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah Wells at smcdonald23@bloomberg.net, Kevin Kingsbury

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