Market rally stalls after China moves ahead on HK security law

Markets were mixed on Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 surged 2.3 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 jumped 1.6 percent. However, the rally lost steam by the end of the day and the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent.

US-China tension kept equities in check after China’s parliament on Thursday approved a decision to go forward with national security legislation for Hong Kong.

“There’s going to be some push back. No one was anticipating that in the immediate future,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. “It could derail some of the reopening momentum we’ve had.”