Tencent tumbles, weighing on Hang Seng index as US takes aim at Google’s ties with Chinese firms

Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings tumbled on Friday, dragging Hong Kong’s benchmark with it, after the US Congress started examining Google’s ties with Chinese technology and telecoms companies such as Huawei, Tencent, and Xiaomi.

Google is the latest company to come under fire from US lawmakers after Facebook was questioned over its ties with Huawei and few other Chinese tech firms.

The Hang Seng Index fell 1.8 per cent, or 554.42 points, to 30,958.21, halting a six-day winning streak and paring the weekly gain to 1.5 per cent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, also known as the H-share index lost 2 per cent, or 242.01 points, to 12,165.79.

Tencent, which has a 10 per cent weighting on the index, shed 3.3 per cent to close at HK$415.00, its steepest daily percentage decline since the end of March. It was the single largest contributor to the decline on the Hang Seng Index, responsible for 106 points of losses.

The sell-off came after some top US lawmakers asked for information from Alphabet’s Google about any data-sharing agreements between the company and Chinese vendors, as well as its partnerships with Tencent and smartphone maker Xiaomi.

Some also raised questions about Google’s partnership with Huawei about its Android smartphone operating system.