See also: China to abandon numerical GDP target on 'great uncertainty'
(May 22): Stocks slid and U.S. equity futures retreated as investors braced for tensions between Washington and Beijing to escalate after China announced plans to impose a national security law on Hong Kong. Treasuries climbed with the dollar while oil snapped a six-day winning steak.
Insurance and mining companies led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index lower as contracts on the three main American equity gauges all pointed to losses on Wall Street. The risk-off tone took hold in Asia, where Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index plunged more than 5%. The yuan dipped as China’s National People’s Congress abandoned its decades-long practice of setting an annual target for economic growth amid uncertainty unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
