Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index drops more than 2%; China tech stocks remain under pressure

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday trade as several major Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong remained under pressure following a tumble on Monday. The broader Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 2.59% in afternoon trade, seeing further losses after a more than 4% plunge on Monday on the back of regulatory fears surrounding China’s technology and private education sector.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent fell 6.98% while Alibaba dropped 5.26% and Meituan declined 12.48%. The Hang Seng Tech index slipped 6.06%. China’s antitrust regulator announced Monday a set of guidelines for food delivery platforms that included paying delivery personnel at least the local minimum wage — a move that could hurt the profits of firms such as Meituan and Alibaba’s Ele.me.

Mainland Chinese stocks fell, with the Shanghai composite down 1.54% while the Shenzhen component dropped 2.353%. Industrial firms’ profits in China jumped 20% year-on-year in June, official data showed Tuesday. Still, that was a decline from the 36.4% year-on-year increase seen in May. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.5% to close at 7,431.40. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.17%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.674 after a recent fall from above 92.8. The Japanese yen traded at 110.17 per dollar, stronger than levels around 110.5 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7366 following an earlier high of $0.7388. Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.42% to $74.81 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.29% to $72.12 per barrel.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index drops more than 2%; China tech stocks remain under pressure, CNBC, Jul 27