The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 per cent to 19,572.31 at 10.41am local time. The Tech Index slid 0.5 per cent. Onshore stock benchmarks also declined as the CSI 300 Index lost 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1 per cent.
E-commerce group Alibaba Group weakened 2.1 per cent to HK$82.20 while EV maker BYD slid 2.8 per cent to HK$253 and Meituan sank 3 per cent to HK$160.30. Biotech firm Wuxi Biologics tumbled 2 per cent to HK$16.46 and Chinese online travel operator Trip.com Group sank 3 per cent to HK$512.50.
President Xi Jinping and other top policymakers will gather at the annual central economic work conference next week, which is expected to spell out the nation’s major development policies for 2025. The closed-door conference may offer clues on how China will respond to headwinds including fresh US tariffs on exports.
Two companies started trading on Thursday. Coating material producer Chengdu Jiachi Electronic Technology jumped 154 per cent to 68.04 yuan in Shanghai and rubber products maker Shaanxi Kelong New Material Technology soared 236 per cent to 46.91 yuan in Beijing.
Other major Asian markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi retreated 0.2 per cent, extending a decline spurred by the nation’s political turmoil.
