The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.1 per cent to 17,725.71 as of 10.03am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.1 per cent.
Baidu jumped 4.6 per cent to HK$112.30 after third-quarter revenue beat estimates. Tencent Holdings rose 0.9 per cent to HK$327.80 and Alibaba Group Holding climbed 0.9 per cent to HK$76.65.
Limiting gains, auto retailer Zhongsheng Group Holdings slid 3.2 per cent to HK$18.78 and online travel agency Trip.com sank 2.7 per cent to HK$268.20. Hong Kong jewel retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group slipped 0.5 per cent to HK$11.68.
Jefferies maintained a buy rating on Baidu, saying that growth in the company’s core online marketing revenue will outpace the economic growth and its artificial-intelligence cloud will likely post a year-on-year double-digit increase.
“Given the fragile recovery in the economy and the mixed outlook for corporate earnings, investors should make allocations of safe bets like those stocks with beaten-down share prices,” said Shen Fanchao, an analyst at Zheshang International in Hong Kong. “Whether the economy can sustain the recovery depends on the follow-up policies.”
Shanxi Installation Group, an engineering service provider, rose 0.9 per cent to HK$2.20 on the first day of trading in Hong Kong.
Other major Asian markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.4 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.5 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1 per cent.