Alibaba and Xiaomi hit record highs, but fail to boost Hong Kong, China markets
- Hang Seng Index falls 0.3 per cent and Shanghai Composite declines 0.2 per cent
- Delays in development of Cansino Biologics’ vaccine candidate affected sentiment earlier on
A surge in technology stocks failed to boost markets in Hong Kong and China on Wednesday, as sentiment remained under pressure from lingering US-China tensions and delays in the development of a vaccine candidate.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 per cent to 25,120.09, while the Shanghai Composite ended 0.2 per cent lower.
“The markets have been under pressure recently. Investors have been slowly selling and taking profits,” said Stanley Chan, director of research at Emperor Securities. “There is still some uncertainty over how the US will handle the TikTok transaction, and it may even crack down on other Chinese technology companies.”
The Tianjin-based company managed to contain some of the damage by announcing at noon that it had entered into an agreement with Russian biopharmaceutical company Petrovax for phase three clinical trials of its vaccine candidate in Russia. Its stock closed 1.8 per cent lower after falling by as much as 11.3 per cent in the morning.