Chapter 1031: Let the stock market crash come even more violently!

Last month, the Hong Kong Association of Banks announced an interest rate hike, causing the Hang Seng Index to start falling at the opening of the stock market on Monday, July 20th. At that time, it should have been the prelude to the stock market crash.

However, Xia Yu immediately launched a takeover of the Swire consortium, which stimulated the nerves of all financial practitioners and stopped the decline of the Hang Seng Index, which had already fallen, and caused it to rise again.

In the thirty-odd days since then, the Hang Seng Index has plummeted, but Xia Yu's actions and the influx of nearly 100 billion Hong Kong dollars into the stock market have boosted the Hang Seng Index from just over 1,830 points to a peak never before seen in Hong Kong stocks – 2,356 points.

In just over a month, the Hang Seng Index rose by more than 500 points, thanks to Xia Yu's intervention and the influx of capital.

But Xia Yu knew exactly how much of this was due to manipulation.

The vast majority of financial professionals understood this as well.

But the game of passing the hot potato is a capital game, and many institutions and investors were aware of this. The moment the Swire and Jiuding consortia decided the outcome, it was clear that the bubble was about to burst.

It could be said that the risks were almost clearly visible.

It's just that the benefits are too tempting, so that the institutions and retail investors who enter the market are willing to take risks, betting that they can reap a fortune while others suffer, rather than becoming the last poor guys to take over.

Unfortunately, the investors did not expect that Norman Shi Yawei would choose to keep the news confidential after he had gained a controlling interest in order to maintain the high stock price, and decisively chose the former over the hidden benefits.

Xia Yu's share clearance was also extremely technical and covert, and no one knew about it. When the news broke, he had already successfully escaped.

So there was no time for investors to escape, and after the morning opening bell, the stock market plummeted as ferociously as a broken dam.

The capital market was already very panicked, and while everyone was trying to remain calm, there was then a breakthrough in the issue of Hong Kong's future, which was a nightmare for capital, and this caused the 'mountain torrent' to easily wash away everyone's psychological defences.

From the afternoon when the news broke and caused the stock market to plummet, there was continuous wailing and cursing in the four major exchanges. The four major exchanges were in a complete mess, and investors could only passively accept the situation in despair and helplessness in the face of the plummeting stock market.

In the entire stock market, buy orders for various companies that were originally posted were quickly withdrawn if there was time, but more were quickly triggered by the plummeting stock prices, and then the funds were locked in.

Under these circumstances, all buy orders in the entire stock market disappeared, and there were only sell orders coming in, with the prices of the sell orders getting lower and lower. Many investors had lost their minds.

They know that no one dares to buy at any price, and that lowering the price of the sell order will only result in greater losses.

But what if?

What if someone is foolish enough to buy?

In a desperate situation, even the slightest possibility is infinitely magnified and becomes a lifeline that everyone wants to grasp.

The stock prices of various companies continue to hit new lows, driving the entire Hang Seng Index to plummet.

In just under an hour and a half, when the market closed at 4pm, the Hang Seng Index had fallen below the 2,100 mark, closing at 2,053.

At the opening bell in the morning, the Hang Seng Index was 2,356.

In other words, the Hang Seng Index plummeted 303 points, a drop of 12.8%, in one day.

The gains made over the past month or so were wiped out in just one day.

As the stock market closed, the panic in the market subsided, and I don't know how many people collapsed on the ground.

In the Jiuding Securities Company,

Xia Yu saw that the Hang Seng Index closed at 2,053 points, and his mouth slightly raised, obviously in a very happy mood.

When he saw that the market value of Swire Pacific had dropped to 13.28 billion Hong Kong dollars, and that its market value had evaporated by 10.5 billion Hong Kong dollars that day, Xia Yu's smile became even more obvious.

Noticing the chairman's gaze, Wang Qi smiled and said, 'Swire Pacific is already the company with the highest market value in the stock market, and now that the stock market crash has come, it is the one that has fallen the hardest, with its market value evaporating by more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars in one day. I estimate that Norman Shih Yaohuai will have a heart attack from the shock.'

Xia Yu glanced at Wang Qi and jokingly said, 'You can go to the Wong Tai Sin Temple this afternoon and have someone light your mouth.'

Wang Qi was taken aback, and then he laughed.

'Wang Qi, you arrange your work first, then come to my office.'

After the joke, Xia Yu's smile faded and he said to Wang Qi.

About ten minutes later, Wang Qi arrived at Xia Yu's office and saw Xia Yu, who was drinking tea.

'Chairman, I'm done.'

Xia Yu nodded slightly, motioned for Wang Qi to sit down, and then instructed him, 'The dirt on the Taikoo consortium that Song Bo brought over, as well as the dirt on the Carrian Group, you let someone release it tomorrow, and add a little fuel to the fire, just be careful not to get caught.'

Wang Qi nodded solemnly to promise, 'Please be assured, there will be no mistakes.'

Xia Yu nodded with satisfaction and then thought for a moment before adding, 'One more thing, as the leading securities firm, there will definitely be newspapers that want to know our attitude at a time like this. You must keep your employees in check and prevent them from saying anything that could be misinterpreted.'

'Okay.'

...

That night, after dinner, Xia Yu turned on the TV and watched the Global News Channel's 'News 30 Minutes'. The programme spent 15 minutes reporting on the stock market crash, and also reported Wang Ping's key speech verbatim. As for the rest, it didn't say anything at all, and its stance was very neutral.

With the viewership of Global TV, more than half of the people in Hong Kong watched this news, and the issue of Hong Kong's future spread throughout Hong Kong in an instant, and many people were worried about it.

Even Xia Yu's parents worriedly asked him what to do, and Xia Yu could only explain to them and calm them down.

Xia Yu understood his parents' worries, after all, their son was a big capitalist, and Xia Yu had never told them about his relationship with the mainland.

The next morning, the news was full of negative reports about the stock market crash and the future of 1997.

Under this kind of public opinion, Hong Kong was gripped by panic.

Even people who were originally strong-willed could not avoid being infected by this atmosphere, causing the whole society to panic.

Of course, there were still some positive reports, such as those from mainland-controlled media like Ta Kung Pao, but the circulation of these newspapers was small, and their voices were drowned out.

Immediately after work, MacLehose held a press conference, desperately appealing to the public to remain calm, and to stock market investors to remain calm.

Unfortunately, the effect was not significant, and panic continued to spread.

As soon as 10 o'clock in the morning arrived, the stock market reopened.

Amidst screams and shouts, the Hang Seng Index plummeted at the opening bell, and the chaos that had occurred at the exchange yesterday was repeated today.

Within ten minutes of the market opening, the Hang Seng Index broke through the 2,000-point mark and continued to plummet.

When panic sets in, rumours start to spread.

Unsubstantiated news was circulating in the chaotic stock exchange.

But a few news items, which came from unknown sources, sent some retail and institutional investors into a panic.

'The Carrian Group is insolvent, with liabilities exceeding HK$10 billion, and is suspected of financial fraud. There is no consortium behind it, and it only started out by defrauding Yue Man Finance for funds.'

'Chen Qingsong, the chairman of the Carrian Group, is preparing to flee with the money.'

'The Swire Group has financial problems, and the Shi Yahuai family has maliciously appropriated more than 750 million in group interests!'

...

Each piece of news is as true as it gets, extremely persuasive, and it's hard for others not to believe it.

Those who believe it immediately take action, which is reflected in the stock market, where the stock prices of the listed companies affiliated with the Swire Group and the Carrian Group open a VIP channel and fall even more rapidly.

Just as Norman Shi Yuhuai and Chen Qingsong were filled with anger, Xia Yu, who was comfortably handling office business, received an unexpected phone call.