The Hang Seng Index declined 1.6 per cent to 15,952.23 at the close of trading on Friday, after rallying 8.4 per cent over the preceding three days. The Tech Index dropped 3.8 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 per cent.
Tencent eased 2.8 per cent to HK$282.80, Alibaba lost 3.3 per cent to HK$70.90 and Meituan dropped 3.9 per cent to HK$66.70. Electric-car maker BYD fell 7.8 per cent to HK$27.90, while rival Li Auto lost 4 per cent to HK$106.90.
“The sentiment is still fragile, and confidence has yet to return,” said Dickie Wong, executive director at Kingston Securities. Investors panic and start selling immediately when they see negative news on more potential US bans, he said.
Geopolitical risks will continue to be an overhang as this is an election year, Wong added.
The decline trimmed the Hang Seng Index’s gains since last Friday to 4.2 per cent. Still, it was the first winning week of 2024 and the best five-day period in nearly a month, according to Bloomberg data. Before the rally, Hong Kong’s stock benchmark had the worst start to the year since 2016, slumping more than 12 per cent to a 15-month low.
Xuchang Intelligent Relay, a manufacturer and distributor of power equipment, surged 60 per cent to 7.42 yuan per share on the first day of trading in Beijing.
Major key Asian markets were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi advanced by 0.3 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.3 per cent.