Hong Kong riot supporter Jimmy Lai (center) leaves the Kowloon City police station in Hong Kong on Friday after being arrested for taking part in an unauthorized assembly on August 31, 2019. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong local market regulators have already made inquiry to certain securities bodies, asked and requested customer information, transaction records about the "abnormal stock price and trading volume" of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's media firm Next Digital, local media on.cc reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Shares of Next Digital plunged by more than 40 percent on Thursday morning trading following the news. 

The firm's stock price has experienced a staged rise and falls on Wednesday. It opened at HK$1.4 on Wednesday, and rapidly rose to a full-day high of HK$1.75, but began to plummet in the afternoon, once falling to HK$0.51, a 70 percent drop. It closed at HK$0.65, a 40.91 percent drop, with a turnover of HK$1.76 billion.

Observers told the Global Times that the abnormal fluctuations in the share price might be because secessionists in Hong Kong such as Joshua Wong Chi-fung called for support for Next Digital, predicting that the price will eventually return to a very low level as the company reports losses of hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars annually.

Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) made a statement on Tuesday night saying it strongly advised investors to exercise extreme caution regarding Next Digital shares. It also urged the company to disclose relevant information.

After Lai was arrested for violating the national security law of Hong Kong for colluding with foreign forces, it's shares surged 331.37 percent to close at HK$1.10 Tuesday, a rise of about 1,100 percent from last Friday.

Some local residents complained that SFC had not moved in a timely manner to suspend trading of Next Digital, saying that unusual movements in the share price would eventually harm investors' interests and the stock exchange's reputation.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange told the Global Times on Thursday that it does not comment on individual companies or their share price movements.

Global Times