Hong Kong stocks fell for a third day as Covid-19 cases in mainland China flared up just as measures were being eased, prompting traders to scale back bets on the nation’s economic recovery momentum. Ganfeng Lithium sank on an insider-trading probe. The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 21,830.35 at the close. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.3 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5 per cent. The city’s market resumed trading after a holiday on Friday for the 25th anniversary of the handover. The three-day decline mathe longest losing run in three weeks. Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing led losses, falling 3.1 per cent to HK$374. Macau casino concessionaire Sands China also retreated by more than 3 per cent HK$18.14 on concerns about citywide lockdown. Developer Country Garden Holdings slid 3.5 per cent to HK$4.69. The eastern province of Anhui reported 287 new infections on Sunday, leading to a lockdown of two counties while Shanghai added three cases, according to the authorities. Macau, which reported its first two Covid-related deaths on Sunday, said that it would not rule out locking down the entire city if current measures fail to prevent transmission. Covid-19: new cases on the rise in China as travel rules ease The latest setback is a hiccup to a rally in the Hang Seng Index, which has risen 19 per cent from a six-year low in mid-March. The rebound added US$600 billion of market value, aided by the end of a two-month lockdown in Shanghai and other policy stimulus. “We expect policymakers to maintain the ‘dynamic zero Covid’ policy stance until the second quarter next year, although uncertainty is significant,” Goldman Sachs said in a research note. “The imbalances between different consumption activities might continue. Consumption activity in the education and entertainment sectors has been the most depressed and was almost 20 per cent below trend level.” ETF Connect to strengthen Hong Kong’s super-connector role and solidify city’s position as Asia’s top ETF trading hub The Tracker Fund was unchanged HK$22.80 and CSOP Hang Seng Tech Index ETF gained 0.3 per cent to HK$4.818. They are two of the four Hong Kong-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) mainland traders can buy via the Stock Connect from Monday. Meanwhile, overseas traders can also access 83 mainland-based EFTs with total assets of about US$90 billion. Ganfeng Lithium tumbled 3.3 per cent to HK$83.50 after saying that it was facing an investigation for suspected insider trading. China’s market regulator in January started probing its buying and selling of an undisclosed listed stock, the company said in a filing on Sunday. Its share slipped 1.4 per cent to 110.33 yuan in Shenzhen. SenseTime Group, China’s largest artificial intelligence software maker, tumbled 19 per cent to HK$2.54, adding to a 47 per cent slump on June 30. Everbright Securities said a lock-up on 64 per cent of the company’s shares expired on that day. OneConnect Financial Technology, a Ping An Insurance-backed unit that offers cloud data services to financial institutions, closed at HK$5.40 on the first day of trading in Hong Kong. It achieved the listing status through way of introduction.