(Bloomberg) — China’s health-care stocks slumped as sentiment took a hit after authorities widened an anti-graft crackdown on the sector.Most Read from BloombergTexas Power Prices to Surge 800% on Sunday Amid Searing HeatNetanyahu Seeks to Change How Judges Are Named, Then Stop RevampMusk Says He May Need Surgery, Will Get MRI on Back and NeckUkraine Black Sea Drone Attacks Signal Rapidly Expanding WarShort Seller Hindenburg Nabs Tiny Gains Off $173 Billion CarnageThe CSI 300 Healthcare Index declined as much as 3.1% on Monday to underperform all the other sectors on the onshore benchmark gauge.
The biggest losers included Huadong Medicine Co.
and Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co.Investors have been on guard since the nation’s top graft buster said last month that authorities would conduct a year-long nationwide crackdown to root out corruption in the pharmaceutical sector.
At least 155 officials at hospitals nationwide were being probed for allegedly violating laws and regulations as of July 26, more than double 2022’s total tally, according to a local media report.The decline in pharmaceutical shares was mainly due to the crackdown, Topsperity Securities analysts including Chen Tielin wrote in a note.
The campaign looks to be deepening with more short-term uncertainties on the horizon, they said.Eight of the 10 biggest decliners on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index as of 11:22 am in Hong Kong were linked to the Chinese pharmaceutical industry.
China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co.
and Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc.
plunged at least 12% each in Hong Kong while Betta Pharmaceuticals Co.
slid almost 14% on the mainland.–With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi and Mengchen Lu.Most Read from Bloomberg BusinessweekTeen Gamers Swiped $24 Million in Crypto, Then Turned on Each OtherHonoring the Enslaved Man Who Made Jack Daniel’s First WhiskeyA Digital Dollar Is for Banks and Governments, But Not YouThe Health-Care Staffing Crisis Is Bad and Getting WorseWith AI Booming, Gary Gensler Wants to Keep Finance Safe for Humans©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
