Hong Kong equities fell 59 points or 0.3%, to 22,913 in early trade on Wednesday, retreating from the previous session's rally. Sentiment was weighed by a fresh threat from US President Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs on automobile, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical imports. Additionally, some traders booked profits after the market hit a four-month high in the prior session. Limiting further losses, US futures edged higher following Wall Street's S&P 500 closing at a record high overnight. Meanwhile, China's new home prices fell 5.0% year-on-year in January, the mildest decline in six months, as Beijing continued efforts to stabilize the property sector. Financials and consumer stocks led losses on the Hang Seng Index, with investors cautious ahead of China's key lending rate decisions in the coming days. Among major decliners were Kingsoft Corp. (-2.3%), Trip.com (-1.6%), Pop Mart Intl. (-1.3%), Meituan (-1.0%), and Tencent Holdings (-0.9%).

Source: Trading Economi