But while Hong Kong’s vastly oversold market has benefited from the strong performance of frothy global equity markets, the true test of the city’s resilience will come with the inevitable correction. Such a pullback may be close at hand, especially if widespread fears of an AI bubble are realised — though, as always, market timing is a guessing game.
The sign at Hong Kong International Airport still says: “Welcome to Asia’s World City.” Usually worth nothing more than a sideways glance, this time the sign gave me pause for thought as I disembarked from the plane on a recent visit.
On the surface, Hong Kong seems to have bounced back in the year and a half since I wrote my controversial article in The Financial Times, titled It pains me to say Hong Kong is over. Never mind that the property market hasn’t recovered. The all-important financial sector is booming again; a high-flying Hang Seng Index and a return to the top spot in the global IPO rankings recall the days of yore.
