HSI Closes Lower As Tech Plays Take A Battering

The Hang Seng Index finished Monday on a negative note, while most regional markets were lifted by US President Donald Trump's signing of a US$900 billion coronavirus aid package.

The local blue-chip index began the day lower, but gains by AIA and mainland banks helped it reverse course.

But the index later lost steam and finished down 71 points, or 0.27 percent, at 26,314, weighed by tech shares.

Turnover reached HK$190.7 billion.

The so-called ATMX stocks all sank. Alibaba was biggest blue-chip lower, plunging 8 percent after the e-commerce giant raised its share repurchase programme and was hurt by news over the weekend that mainland regulators asked its affiliate Ant Group to rectify financial violations.

Meituan and heavyweight Tencent each plummeted nearly 7 percent, and Xiaomi gave up 4 percent.

But AIA and ICBC each surged more than 4 percent.

Markets across the border were supported by strong industrial profit data released over the weekend. The Shanghai Composite Index breached the 3,400-mark before giving up some of the gains to finish little changed. Consumer shares sent the blue-chip CSI300 index higher by 0.4 percent. The Shenzhen Composite Index was flat.

Across the region, the Nikkei in Tokyo rallied almost three quarters of a percent to its highest in almost 30 years. Taiwan jumped 1 percent to another record peak. The Kospi in South Korea inched up less than 0.1 percent. Australia added a third of one percent.