Hong Kong stocks retreat as Alibaba drags tech peers lower with eyes on key China political meeting

Hong Kong stocks declined for a second day with tech firms leading losers as the Chinese Communist Party kicked off a key meeting in Beijing under a cloud of economic slowdown.

Alibaba Group Holding, the owner of this newspaper, sank 1.6 per cent, while its health unit lost 1.2 per cent. Meituan tumbled 2 per cent, while Tencent Holdings retreated 0.8 per cent. Analysts have trimmed their price targets on the trio by 18 to 25 per cent over the past six months following a regulatory crackdown on their businesses.

President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the party, will open the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee on Monday. Investors will be evaluating a new resolution on the party’s “major achievements and historical experience,” which is expected to be adopted at a political gathering, for clues on policies.

After chalking up a 3.3 per cent gain in October, the Hang Seng Index has since given up 2.4 per cent this month. They retreated even as exports grew last month at a faster pace than economists predicted, while imports trailed estimates. The spread of Delta variant in many provinces have led to stricter lockdowns, weighing on economic recovery efforts.