Hong Kong stocks slump on weak China exports, soft US jobs market
Alibaba, Tencent and Kuaishou lead the declines as Chinese tech giants track the sell-off on Wall Street
The Hang Seng Index eased 0.9 per cent to 26,241.83 at the close, trimming the gain for the week to 1.3 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.8 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both retreated 0.3 per cent.
Chinese technology stocks led the declines, tracking the overnight sell-off in US peers. Alibaba Group Holding slumped 3 per cent to HK$160.10, Tencent Holdings slipped 1.6 per cent to HK$634 and Kuaishou Technology tumbled 5.9 per cent to HK$68.25. Pop Mart International Group, the maker of the hit plush toy Labubu, sank 5.9 per cent to HK$204.80 after a live-streaming incident in which a company employee complained about blind-box product prices.
Hong Kong stocks ended a choppy week, swayed by turbulent trading in the US where the market remains fragile and sensitive to negative headlines after valuations touched the high end of their historical average. Tech stocks bore the brunt of the shake-up after veteran investor Michael Burry, who rose to fame for his bearish bets during the global financial crisis in 2008, said that he had built short positions on artificial intelligence stocks including Nvidia.
“Stocks, particularly tech stocks, are a bit expensive after a good run, and there is a possibility for more corrections,” said Zhang Dongdong, an analyst at Pacific Securities. “In comparison, the old-economy stocks have low volatility and may bring above-average returns in the fourth quarter.”