Hong Kong Stocks Snap 2-Day Drop as Investors Return to Tech Firms Following US Sell-Offs
Hong Kong stocks rose to halt a two-day decline as investors returned to low-valuation Chinese tech stocks, which rallied after their biggest US counterparts fell into a technical correction.
The Hang Seng Index jumped 2.2 per cent to 23,538.67 as of 10.08 am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index surged 2.8 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index climbed 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5 per cent.
Alibaba Group Holding added 4 per cent to HK$135.80, recovering some of its 5.7 per cent loss over the past two days. E-commerce rival JD.com advanced 6.7 per cent to HK$165.30. Tencent Holdings gained 1.9 per cent to HK$493.80 and Meituan climbed 3.5 per cent to HK$164.10. Budweiser Brewing surged 11 per cent to HK$8.68 after appointing a new CEO to turn around its slumping business.
Investors are returning to China’s biggest tech stocks and optimism is rising that Beijing will shift more resources this year to support innovation as the China-US rivalry intensifies. Premier Li Qiang has called for more technological breakthroughs in a visit to the nation’s biggest telecoms operators.
In the US overnight, the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks – including Nvidia and Apple – recorded an 11 per cent decline from a December high to enter a technical correction. Concerns about stagflation have been growing after inflation expectations among consumers rose on the back of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Other major Asia-Pacific markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1 per cent.
Source: SCMP
