Hong Kong stocks fall after Moody’s downgrades US credit rating, mixed China data

Stock markets in Hong Kong and mainland China fell on Monday amid concern about global financial market stability, after the US lost its top-notch sovereign credit rating and China reported mixed post-tariff economic data.

The Hang Seng Index eased 0.6 per cent to 23,201.61 at 10.19am local time. The CSI 300 Index, which tracks the 300 largest stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen, declined 0.5 per cent.

Sunny Optical Technology Group tumbled 4.3 per cent to HK$62.95 and Alibaba Group Holding lost 3.5 per cent to HK$119.10, extending a decline spurred by last week’s weaker-than-estimated earnings. Kuaishou Technology lost 3.1 per cent to HK$49.30 and Geely Automobile Holdings shed 2.8 per cent to HK$19.18.

Moody’s Ratings stripped the US government of its top credit rating from Aaa to Aa1 on Friday, citing successive governments’ failure to stop a rising tide of debt.

Retail sales in China increased 5.1 per cent year on year in April, according to official data on Monday. That compared with a consensus estimate of 5.8 per cent growth in a Bloomberg poll of economists. Industrial production grew 6.1 per cent last month, exceeding estimates of a 5.7 per cent increase, while fixed-asset investments rose 4 per cent in the first four months, falling short of the 4.2 per cent growth projection.

The April data offered a glimpse of the impact of US President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on China’s economy, when levies were raised to as much as 145 per cent on imports from the Asian nation. The two nations reached a tentative deal early this month, pausing tariffs for 90 days.