Chinese stocks lose ground in Hong Kong and mainland amid tariff uncertainty
Technology stocks outperform as the DeepSeek effect draws investors
Mainland China’s markets fell on Wednesday along with Hong Kong stocks as investors weighed trade tensions with the US and hype around the domestic artificial-intelligence (AI) sector.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 per cent to 20,597.09 at the close, surrendering some of Tuesday’s strongest gain in three months. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1 per cent.
Mainland benchmarks opened higher before losing ground, with the CSI 300 Index falling 0.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.7 per cent. Technology stocks in both indices outperformed.
Among mainland stocks, Beijing Kingsoft Office Software surged 18.2 per cent to 371.11 yuan, Kunlun Tech climbed 18 per cent to 43.51 yuan and iFlyTek advanced 7.4 per cent to 54.43 yuan.
In the Hang Seng Index, apparel maker Shenzhou International Group Holdings sank 6.5 per cent to HK$58.80, while Nongfu Spring dipped 6.9 per cent to HK$34.85.
Tech stocks were largely weaker, with JD.com falling 3.5 per cent to HK$156.50 and Trip.com dipping 6.4 per cent to HK$534. Beijing-based computing platform Kingsoft Cloud slid 4.4 per cent to HK$8.20.
Chinese e-commerce companies were affected by the US scrapping duty-free treatment of lower-valued or “de minimis” goods. “The impact has finally shown after the rally of the tech stocks in the past few days,” said Dickie Wong, executive director at Kingston Securities.