Hong Kong stocks slide as Alibaba, HKEX lead losses, while developers slump on policy disappointment
- Tech stocks surrender some of their hefty gains, while developers give up all of early gains with policy incentives deemed underwhelming
- Bourse operator HKEX logs slide after a report showing a 30 per cent decline in third-quarter earnings
The Hang Seng Index dropped 2.4 per cent to 16,511.28 at the close of Wednesday trading, erasing most of the gains made over the past three days. The Tech Index slumped 4.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2 per cent.
Alibaba Group Holding tumbled 4.2 per cent to HK$72.80, Tencent Holdings slumped 4.1 per cent to HK$244 and JD.com sank 5.3 per cent to HK$168.80, with the trio surrendering some of their hefty gains this week. HSBC retreated 1.3 per cent to HK$41.65.
The Hang Seng Property index retreated 1.8 per cent with 10 out of 12 members falling. New World Development sank 7.5 per cent to HK$18.86, Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 3.7 per cent to HK$89.35 and Henderson Land Development dropped 3.4 per cent to HK$21.50. They surrendered earlier gains after Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced a mild easing in property-market measures.
“Some investors [are] disappointed that it is too long for non-local buyers to wait seven years to enjoy this policy” incentive, said Raymond Cheng, head of China and Hong Kong research CGS-CIMB Securities.