Hong Kong stocks kept gains, shrugging off declines in regional markets, as bets on policy easing in mainland China aided property developers and banks. Alibaba Group slid on potential regulatory curbs in the US. The Hang Seng Index rose as much as 0.4 per cent before easing to a 0.1 per cent gain at the close of Wednesday trading. The city’s Tech Index slipped 1 per cent as Alibaba Group tumbled while China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 per cent. Developers Country Garden and China Overseas Land climbed by at least 4.9 per cent, while China Merchants Bank and Bank of China rose by 2.1 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. Policymakers will open its monetary toolbox wider to ensure a stable supply of money and prevent a collapse in lending, Liu Guoqiang, Deputy Governor of China’s central bank, said in a briefing on Tuesday. That signal of support added to recent measures to ease liquidity and funding access over the past one month. “The momentum on stabilising growth will strengthen after the cuts in the reserve requirement ratio and loan prime rate,” said Chen Xianshun, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities. “That will revive risk appetite.” Macau casino stocks rebounded, adding to a rally since Friday when the city unveiled its proposed gaming law reform that offered clarity to concession holders. Sands China rose 0.5 per cent and MGM China climbed 1.2 per cent. Galaxy Entertainment added 0.2 per cent. Elsewhere, Alibaba tumbled 1.7 per cent after Reuters reported that the Biden administration was reviewing its cloud-computing business for potential threat to US national security. The US could prohibit Americans at home and abroad from using the service altogether, the report said. Other major markets in the region all declined, except in South Korea. Japanese equities fell almost 3 per cent, mirroring an overnight sell-off in US markets as rising bond yields fuelled concerns about a faster-than-expected rate increase by the Federal Reserve. Expectations about exiting accommodative monetary policies also spurred a 2.2 per cent rout in the ChiNext index of China’s small-cap start-up companies in Shenzhen. The gauge has lost 7.4 per cent this month, the worst start to a year since 2016.