HK Stocks Fell, Dragged By Mainland Telecoms

Shares in Hong Kong headed south on Thursday, bucking the trend in most regional markets as US Democrats' control of both houses of Congress boosted hopes for more economic stimulus.

The Hang Seng Index opened slightly higher in the morning, only to lose momentum later in the day.

It wrapped up the day down 143 points, or 0.5 percent, at 27,548 on turnover of HK$227 billion.

The three Chinese telecom companies that the New York Stock Exchange has once again decided to delist – China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom – each dropped more than 7 percent.

Tech giants Tencent and Alibaba each fell around 4 percent after reports emerged that the Trump administration is considering adding them to a blacklist of Chinese companies allegedly owned or controlled by the Chinese military.

Markets across the border extended their rallies.

The blue-chip CSI300 index jumped more than 1.7 percent to close at a fresh 13-year high, driven by consumer and financial sectors. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.7 percent.

Across the region, the Kospi in South Korea topped 3,000 for the first time, finishing more than 2 percent higher at a record high.

The Nikkei in Tokyo advanced 1.6 percent, having hit its highest in 30 years during trading.

Australia rose over 1 percent and marked their best day in about two months, while Taiwan and Singapore also reported gains.

In commodities, oil prices gained almost 1 percent after a fall in US stockpiles and a decision by Saudi Arabia to cut output over the next two months.