The Hang Seng Tech Index decreased by 1% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index showed a 0.2% drop. Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment had setbacks of over 2%. All the decreases are caused by concerns in regard to Macau facing tighter border control after having reported its first case of the Covid-19 variant.

In addition to these recent losses, Tencent Holdings, Meituan and Alibaba Health Information Technology also depreciated by over 2.2%.

China’s market regulator has recently presented a draft that wants to bar companies in sensitive industries from selling shares in foreign markets.

China Evergrande saw a 6.1% surge after its Chairman Hui Ka-yan promised to take steps in speeding up the pace of home construction, as well as boosting deliveries to buyers despite the group facing more debt maturities.

China Cinda Asset Management saw a surge of 14% after its agreement to buy a 20% stake in the consumer credit unit of Ant Group for 6bn yuan ($930m).

Four companies began trading on the mainland’s exchanges, with two of them rising by over 22%. The other two saw decreases; Shanghai Model Organisms Centre sank 15% and Shenzen Aoni Electronic saw an 11% decrease.

Japan’s market climbed more than 1%, stocks in Australia gained 0.4%, while, because of Covid, 2021 has put Hong Kong as the worst among major stock markets.