Hong Kong started flight operations on its third runway on Thursday, with officials saying it will keep the city’s airport competitive as an aviation hub despite its lagging post-pandemic recovery. Hong Kong International Airport is still among the busiest airports in the world, but flights are not yet back to pre-Covid levels and it has fallen behind regional rivals like Singapore and South Korea in passenger traffic.Speaking at a ceremony near the tarmac, Hong Kong leader John Lee said the airport’s “capacity will be significantly increased” by the new runway.It will enable the airport to handle 120 million passengers and 10 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2035, authorities say.Eight years after construction began on the third runway, guests at the commissioning ceremony watched a plane take off into a clear blue sky.The project that cost HK$142 billion ($18 billion) drew controversy for its environmental impact, as well as attracting headlines for labour disputes and a corruption case involving subcontractors.Observers have questioned whether the boosted capacity can be taken full advantage of, with visitor arrivals still below pre-pandemic levels.Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said this week that it will reach 100 percent of pre-pandemic flights in January. Lee said Thursday that the upgraded airport will help Hong Kong improve ties to surrounding Chinese cities, as part of Beijing’s development blueprint for the region.It will take until the end of 2025 for some of the expanded passenger buildings associated with the third runway to enter service.

Equity markets diverged Thursday as investors brushed off a negative lead from Wall Street while welcoming a drop in Treasury yields and data showing US inflation was holding steady.With the United States heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, business in New York was subdued after a flurry of activity since Donald Trump’s election win at the start of the month.That has allowed Asian traders to take a breather and digest recent developments as the president-elect builds a hawkish cabinet that looks set to renew his hardball approach to world trade, having already flagged tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico.Data out of Washington on Wednesday showed the personal consumption expenditures index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation — edged up to 2.3 percent on-year in October.The figure was up from 2.1 percent the previous month and in line with forecasts, while slightly above the Federal Reserve’s long-term two percent target for price rises.While the Fed appears to be getting a handle on inflation and the labour market is softening, investors have started to scale back their bets on how many rate cuts the central bank will make as they try to assess the impact of Trump’s plans to cut taxes and impose tariffs.Futures markets currently place the odds at about two-thirds that officials will lower rates again in December by 25 basis points.Still, all three main Wall Street indexes ended in the red, with the Dow and S&P 500 pulling back from record highs as investors shifted to the sidelines ahead of the festive break.Treasury yields slipped, weighing on the dollar Wednesday, though the greenback strengthened slightly in Asian trade.Equity markets were mixed, with Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore all up, while Seoul also edged up after a second successive interest rate cut by South Korea’s central bank.Wellington, Taipei, Manila, Bangkok, Mumbai and Jakarta took a leg down. London, Paris and Frankfurt opened on the front foot.Hong Kong and Shanghai retreated as Bloomberg reported that Washington was considering ramping up its crackdown on tech supplies to China by putting fresh sanctions on sales of semiconductor equipment and AI chips to the country. Dealers were also eyeing Beijing, amid speculation authorities will announce fresh stimulus measures at a key meeting expected next month.However, analysts pointed out that hopes ahead of previous gatherings have largely been dashed by measures that fell short.”China’s economy remains unbalanced as a solid export base for goods production is offset by the continued weakness of the property market and weak consumer spending,” Steven Cochrane, chief Asia Pacific economist at Moody’s Analytics, said.He added that “consumer confidence remains shattered, particularly regarding expectations for the labour market”.While Beijing has introduced a raft of policies to boost growth — including interest rate cuts and measures to support the property sector — Cochrane said that “most issues weighing on the economy have not yet been resolved”.And he warned: “The risks are rising for China as the incoming Trump administration threatens to impose tariffs.”In the crypto sphere, bitcoin was hovering around $96,500, having bounced back from just below $90,300 earlier in the week following its worst run since Trump’s electoral success.Still, it is widely tipped to top $100,000 on hopes the new president will try to ease restrictions on the digital currency market.- Key figures around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 38,349.06 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 19,366.96 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,295.70 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,290.76Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0535 from $1.0565 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2649 from $1.2678Dollar/yen: UP at 151.82 yen from 151.17 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.28 pence from 83.33 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $68.48 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $72.61 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,722.06 (close)