Hong Kong stocks headed for the first weekly decline this month as concerns about frothy valuations for global equities dampened sentiment and drug makers slid after the Trump administration announced a fresh bout of tariffs on the industry.
Advertisement
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 per cent to 26,312.90 at the noon break, taking the loss for the week to 0.9 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1 per cent.
On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slid 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.2 per cent.
Biotech firm Wuxi Biologics sank 1.3 per cent to HK$39.50 and affiliate Wuxi AppTec shed 1.7 per cent to HK$109.40 after US President Donald Trump said that the new tariff would include a 100 per cent levy on branded or patented pharmaceuticals. Alibaba Group Holding fell for a second day after rising to an almost four-year high earlier in the week, dropping 1.7 per cent to HK$169.10. Tencent Holdings shaved 0.4 per cent to HK$647.50. Smartphone and electric-vehicle maker Xiaomi tumbled 5.5 per cent to HK$56.20, giving up the gains sparked by the launch of a new marquee phone that rivals the iPhone 17.
The Hang Seng Index rose to a four-year high last week and an MSCI gauge of global stocks hit a record high on Monday amid euphoria over artificial intelligence and expectations about the Federal Reserve’s rate cut. Now, investors are waiting for policy signals from a Communist Party plenum in October, when top leaders will map out the nation’s social and economic development for the next five years.
Advertisement
“Equity valuations, which had been happily floating on the raft of lower-for-longer Fed hopes, suddenly found the water rising beneath them,” said Stephen Innes, a managing partner at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok. “It means traders wake up to a market where gravity has reasserted itself. The global US$15 trillion rebound year to date now feels stretched.”