Hong Kong stock rally pauses after 3-week high as Xi-Trump meeting looms

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 per cent to 26,346.14 at the close. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 1.3 per cent. Hong Kong’s market will be closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.

On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index dropped 0.5 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 per cent, reversing a gain of as much as 0.3 per cent that at one point catapulted the benchmark above the 4,000-point mark for the first time in a decade. China’s 10-year government bond rose after central bank governor Pan Gongsheng said that the People’s Bank of China would resume trading of sovereign debts on the secondary market.

Gold producer Zijin Mining Group tumbled 5.6 per cent to HK$31.08 on the back of a slump in prices of the metal. Chinese sportswear maker Li Ning dropped 4.5 per cent to HK$16.83 after its retail sales fell by middle single digits in the third quarter. Peer Anta Sports Products dropped 4.3 per cent to HK$84.05.

All eyes will be on the meeting between Xi and Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea on Thursday, the first one since the latter returned to the White House in January. The sit-down came after high-level officials from the two nations reached a preliminary deal on a wide range of issues, from an extension of tariff deadlines to rare earth exports and fentanyl controls, earlier this week.