Shares in Hong Kong tumbled 486 points or 2.1% to 22,460 on Thursday morning session, marking the second session of decline amid a pullback in US futures as investors analyzed US President Trump's proposed levies of about 25% on autos, chip, and drug imports. Markets moved further away from their highest in over four months, hit earlier in the week, after the latest FOMC meeting minutes showed Fed officials were ready to hold interest rates steady due to stubborn US inflation and economic policy uncertainty. Mitigating further weakness, the PBoC's monthly fixing on its key lending rates today kept them at record lows for the fourth consecutive month amid yuan fluctuations and global trade headwinds. All sectors suffered deep losses, with the Hang Seng Tech index experiencing the largest drop of over 3% due to persistent profit-taking in tech stocks. Among large caps, steep losses were seen for KuaishoTech (-7.2%), Meituan (-6.3%), KE Holdings (-4.0%), and Semicon Manufacturing (-3.9%).
Meanwhile,at yesterday trade Hang Seng Index (HSI) declined sharply on Wednesday, losing nearly 500 points during the session and slipping below the 22,500 level. The downturn came amid reduced market turnover, which totalled HK$260 billion, as investor sentiment weakened. In contrast, U.S. equity markets saw modest gains overnight, while Japan's Nikkei Index dropped over 400 points early on Thursday, falling below the 39,000 mark. In the commodities market, New York gold futures rose 0.73% during Asian trading hours.
As of 10.38am, the Hang Seng Index was trading at 22,496.20, down 448.04 points or 1.95% for the day.
Earlier in the session, the index had fallen as much as 493 points to reach 22,450, with a turnover of HK$103.6 billion. Leading the losses were tech giants Kuaishou Technology (1024) and Meituan (3690), which plunged 6.4% and 6.3%, respectively. Other notable decliners included Alibaba Group (9988), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (0981), China Overseas Land & Investment (0688), and New Oriental Education (9901), all of which dropped more than 3%.
The selloff reflects ongoing concerns over the global economic outlook and the performance of major Chinese tech firms, which continue to face regulatory and operational headwinds.
Source: trading Economi & Dimsumdaily.HK
