All three major indices of the Hong Kong stock market fell, ending a four-day rally, with market sentiment becoming increasingly cautious. By the close, the Hang Seng Index dropped by 0.43%, narrowly holding above the 26,000-point mark, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and the Hang Seng Tech Index declined by 0.73% and 0.24%, respectively.
On the market, large technology stocks generally trended downward, particularly Meituan, which fell by 6% to hit a new low for the period, while Baidu decreased by 2.38%, JD.com by nearly 2%, and Kuaishou by 1%. Tencent and Xiaomi showed slight declines, whereas Alibaba and NetEase registered slight gains. Reports indicated that the Trump administration plans to restrict Chinese pharmaceuticals, leading to a collective plunge in the biopharmaceutical sector, with innovative drug concept stocks experiencing the largest declines. Among them, Genscript Biotech saw a significant drop of 19.66%, the worst performer, followed by Hansoh Pharmaceutical with nearly a 9% decrease, CSPC Pharma down 7.5%, and BeiGene down nearly 7%. Wuxi Apptec, Boan Biological, and Kangfang Biotech also recorded declines. Stocks in the film and entertainment, steel, automotive, domestic real estate, and mobile gaming sectors were mostly sluggish.
On the other hand, semiconductor stocks demonstrated strong gains, with collaborations with NVIDIA to expand data center operations, as Innovent Biologics surged over 9%, leading the charge. SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor rose by approximately 6%. Supported by the prospects of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, stocks in non-ferrous metals such as copper and aluminum performed actively, along with military, Apple-related, building materials and cement, heavy machinery, and infrastructure stocks like high-speed rail.
