HK Shares Shed Early Gains As Tech Giants Weigh

The Hong Kong benchmark gave up hundreds of points in gains to end only just in positive territory on Tuesday, as worries mounted that Meituan and Tencent could be next in line following Beijing's antitrust crackdown on tech giant Alibaba.

The Hang Seng Index opened more than 100 points higher despite a negative lead from Wall Street overnight. And the momentum built up during the morning to lift the local benchmark up more than 400 points. But the index reversed course after the lunch break and briefly dipped into negative territory, before recouping the losses to finish up 43 points at 28,497.

Turnover was at HK$142.8 billion.

Leading the losses was Meituan, which plunged 7.4 percent, as Beijing regulators ordered internet platform companies to carry out self inspections within a month or face "severe punishment" for anti-monopoly violations.

Heavyweight Tencent, meanwhile, gave up nearly one percent.

Retail property firms outperformed, a day after the government announced plans to relax social distancing measures. Wharf Real Estate Investment Company surged 6.2 percent. Link Reit put on 2.1 percent.

Sportwear-related stocks were also favoured. Shenzhou International Group, a manufacturer for Nike and Adidas, jumped 4.1 percent. ANTA Sports rose more than one percent.

Shares across the border fell for a third day, despite robust trade data. The Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.5 percent. The blue-chip CSI300 index slipped 0.2 percent. And the Shenzhen Composite was down under 0.1 percent.

Markets around the region were mostly higher as traders waited for US inflation data due out later in the day. The Nikkei in Tokyo edged up 0.7 percent. Seoul's Kospi rallied one percent. Australia was marginally higher. Singapore gained about 0.5 percent. But Taiwan shed 0.2 percent.