Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday following Wall Street’s retreat as renewed concerns about the artificial intelligence sector and lacklustre US jobs data prompted investors to pull back from riskier assets after a brief Nvidia-led rally.
The Hang Seng Index slumped 2.1 per cent to 25,283.36 as of 3pm local time, taking the loss for the week to 4.8 per cent, the worst since April 11, when US President Donald Trump’s tariff war rattled the market. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 3 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index dropped 2.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite lost 2.5 per cent.
Among the major losers, search-engine giant Baidu slumped 5.9 per cent to HK$107.20 and home-grown chipmaker SMIC slid 5.9 per cent to HK$69.20. E-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding lost 4.3 per cent to HK$148.10 and online travel-booking agency Trip.com retreated 2.8 per cent to HK$538.50.
Property stocks helped pare some losses following media reports that the Chinese government was mulling a slew of measures to aid the ailing real estate sector. These include providing mortgage subsidies to first-time homebuyers and lowering transaction costs. Mainland developer Longfor Group Holdings jumped 2 per cent to HK$9.95, while peer China Overseas Land & Investment added 1 per cent to HK$13.73.
Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 Index fell 1.7 per cent, while the Nasdaq lost 2.2 per cent. The pullback underscored a sharp reversal in sentiment as worries about stretched AI valuations and heavy tech spending overshadowed Nvidia’s upbeat forecast, with the chipmaker sliding 3.2 per cent.
Persistent uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will cut rates next month also weighed on risk appetite after recent comments from policymakers signalled caution about easing too quickly.