The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.6 per cent to 25,343.43 at the close, extending a 0.5 per cent decline a day earlier. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.8 per cent.
Household appliances maker Midea Group lost 2.8 per cent to HK$84.35, while online travel agency Trip.com sank 2 per cent to HK$558. Alibaba Group Holding slipped 0.5 per cent to HK$134.10, and Tencent Holdings lost 0.3 per cent to HK$598.50. Gold producer Zijin Mining Group advanced 1.9 per cent to HK$27.60 after bullion prices rose to a record high, with investors seeking havens on concerns of ballooning fiscal deficits in the world’s major economies.
Hong Kong stocks are taking cues from China’s onshore equity market, the world’s second-largest, which has seen increased volatility after a blistering liquidity-fuelled rally drove the Shanghai Composite Index to a decade high last week. Mainland investors also hold growing sway over the city’s market, accounting for more than a fifth of daily turnover through the southbound investment channel of the cross-border exchange link programme.
“Hong Kong’s market is now dominated by sentiment [from mainland stocks] and southbound inflows,” said Shen Fanchao, an analyst at Zheshang International in Hong Kong. “Concerns about fundamental issues are still there, such as China’s weak economic data.”
