Chinese stocks lose ground in Hong Kong and mainland amid tariff uncertainty

Mainland China’s markets dipped 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 0.5 per cent to 20,680.23 at 11.16am local time, surrendering some of Tuesday’s strongest gain in three months. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.5 per cent.

Mainland benchmarks opened higher before losing ground, with the CSI 300 Index falling 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.4 per cent. Technology stocks in both indices outperformed.

Among mainland stocks, Beijing Kingsoft Office Software surged 18 per cent to 371.23 yuan, Kunlun Tech climbed 12 per cent to 41.46 yuan and IFlytek advanced 7.5 per cent to 64.08 yuan.

In the Hang Seng Index, apparel maker Shenzhou International Group Holdings sank 5.3 per cent to HK$59.60, while Nongfu Spring dipped 5.6 per cent to HK$35.35 and Haidilao International Holding dropped 2.7 per cent to HK$14.56.

Tech stocks were largely weaker, with JD.com falling 3.8 per cent to HK$156 and Trip.com dipping 3.9 per cent to HK$548. Beijing-based computing platform Kingsoft Cloud slid 3.9 per cent to HK$8.25, and Meitu, a maker of smartphones and selfie apps, lost 2.1 per cent to HK$4.60.

Chinese e-commerce companies were affected by the US scrapping of the duty-free treatment of lower-valued 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.