HK Shares In The Red As Tech Plays Struggle

Local blue chips lost ground on Thursday as lingering fears of Beijing's regulatory overhaul and the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in China weighed on investor sentiment.

The Hang Seng Index started slightly lower but then reversed course, rising more than 100 points at one stage.

But it gave up the gains before lunch and widened its losses towards the end of the day, finishing down 221 points, or 0.8 percent, at 26,204.

Turnover was HK$161.7 billion.

The Hang Seng Tech Index tumbled 2.1 percent amid ongoing investor jitters about the overhaul by mainland authorities.

Tencent lost 3.9 percent, Meituan shed 1.1 percent and Xiaomi slumped 2 percent. But Alibaba edged up slightly.

Alibaba Health Information Technology was the day's biggest blue-chip loser, diving 6.1 percent.

Wharf Real Estate Investment fell 3.6 percent even though it returned to the black in the first half.

Shares of Kuaishou Technology slipped to a record low since its listing in February, as a six-month lockup period expired. The video sharing platform, which once rocketed above HK$400, finished down 15.3 percent at HK$89.10.

Macau casino operators rebounded. Sands China rallied 3 percent to become the top performer on the benchmark and Galaxy Entertainment jumped 2.4 percent.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index skidded 0.3 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index gave up 0.6 percent. The Shenzhen Composite lost 0.75 percent.

Taiwan shares dropped 0.1 percent.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei put on 0.5 percent, Seoul was down 0.1 percent, Singapore slid 0.4 percent and Australia inched up 0.1 percent.