Hong Kong stocks slip on profit-taking as excitement over Fed rate cut outlook fades

Hong Kong stocks fell on Tuesday as investors booked profits amid uncertainties over the pace and scale of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts and US-China trade talks.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3 per cent to 25,760.17 at 10.05am local time, trimming gains of nearly 3 per cent in the previous two sessions. The Hang Seng Tech Index slipped 0.4 per cent. On the mainland, both the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2 per cent.

Hotpot restaurant chain operator Haidilao tumbled 4.2 per cent to HK$14.25 after its profit missed expectations. Anta Sports Products dropped 2.3 per cent to HK$102. Alibaba Group Holding fell 0.7 per cent to HK$123.60, while insurer AIA declined 1 per cent to HK$73.85.

Ping An Insurance (Group), China’s largest insurer by market capitalisation, fell 0.8 per cent to HK$58.20 ahead of its report card later on Tuesday.

“Asian equities are shuffling into the session with their shoelaces tied together, inheriting Wall Street’s stumble and staring down an inflation report that could redraw the map of Fed policy,” said Stephen Innes, a managing partner at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok.

Major stock indexes in the US declined on Monday after gaining on Friday, when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated that a September interest rate cut was likely but not certain. Later in the day, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he would remove Fed governor Lisa Cook, raising concerns about the central bank’s credibility.