Hong Kong stocks extended losses on Friday, declining for a fourth straight day and are seen accumulating their biggest weekly loss since January, as investors turned defensive after a three month rally and amid broader regional market losses.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.1 per cent to 18,666.14 as of 10.10am local time to a two-week low. The Tech Index tumbled 1.9 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.
“Hong Kong equities recorded resistance from profit-taking activities,” Patrick Pan, strategist at Daiwa Capital Markets, wrote in a note. “We slightly turn defensive in the short term by trimming our positions” in some stocks sensitive to fund flows, he added.
E-commerce firm JD.com retreated 1.9 per cent to HK$121.40, sportswear maker Li Ning tumbled 2 per cent to HK$22.25 and online travel agency Trip.com dropped 2 per cent to HK$410. New World Development lost 1 per cent to HK$9.35 and Hang Lung Properties weakened 2.6 per cent to HK$7.77, leading declines among local lenders and developers.
Today’s decline brought the losses this week to 3.8 per cent, the worst since January, in a slump that has wiped out over US$100 million in value from the city’s stocks, according to Bloomberg data. Lack of positive earnings surprises and hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials further soured risk appetite, prompting profit-taking on the heels the three month rally that added nearly a third to Hong Kong’s stock market capitalisation.
E-commerce firm Alibaba added 0.9 per cent to HK$79.35, after the company said on Thursday it would raise US$4.5 billion by issuing convertible bonds and use the proceeds to fund share repurchases.
Elsewhere, biopharma firm Sunho Biologics surged 8.7 per cent from its IPO price to HK$14.68 on its first day of trading.
Other key Asian markets also fell. Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.3 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.1 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1 per cent.
