Hong Kong stocks fall as market reopens after 3-day Lunar New Year holiday
Tech heavyweights Alibaba, Baidu and Kuaishou drop as trading commences in the Year of the Horse
Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday on the first trading day of the Year of the Horse, led by tech heavyweights, with escalating tensions between the US and Iran hurting sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index closed 1.1 per cent lower at 26,413.35, after the market reopened following a three-day holiday for the Lunar New Year. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 2.9 per cent. Mainland China’s bourses are closed this week and will reopen on Tuesday.
E-commerce major Alibaba Group Holding slumped 4.9 per cent to HK$147.10 and search-engine operator Baidu slid 6.3 per cent to HK$129. Electric-vehicle maker Li Auto slipped 2.8 per cent to HK$70.10 and peer BYD declined 2.4 per cent to HK$95.45. Short-video platform Kuaishou Technology slid 2.8 per cent to HK$66.50 and blind-box toymaker Pop Mart retreated 2.7 per cent to HK$244.40.
Oil and gas producer CNOOC advanced 2.2 per cent to HK$25.70 and peer PetroChina jumped 3.7 per cent to HK$9.52. Property developer Henderson Land added 3 per cent to HK$33.68 and peer Sun Hung Kai Properties climbed 0.7 per cent to HK$135.70.
Shares in artificial intelligence firms rose after they drew global attention at Monday night’s Spring Festival Gala television show. Knowledge Atlas Technology, better known as Zhipu AI, jumped 43 per cent to HK$725 and MiniMax Group surged 15 per cent to HK$970.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington needed to strike a “meaningful deal” with Iran, hinting that the coming 10 days would be critical in determining whether an agreement could be reached. Major US benchmarks fell, with the Dow declining 0.5 per cent and the S&P 500 Index sliding 0.3 per cent.