HSI Ends In The Red Ahead Of Handover Holiday

Most regional markets tracked Wall Street to edge higher on Wednesday, but Hong Kong reversed course to log losses.

The Hang Seng Index opened up 113 points, but quickly changed course to head south. The local benchmark wrapped up the last trading of June down 166 points, or 0.6 percent, at 28,827, on turnover of HK$140.3 billion.

But overall for the first half of the year, the blue-chip index gained six percent.

A number of major tech shares pulled the benchmark lower. Xiaomi lost 1.6 percent, Tencent and Meituan each retreated about one percent, but Alibaba inched up 0.3 percent.

Carmakers were also under pressure. Geely Auto declined 3.4 percent and BYD Company gave up 1.9 percent.

Casino operators bucked the trend. Galaxy Entertainment surged 4.4 percent, while Sands China added 2.2 percent to become the top blue-chip performers, after reports suggested that Macau could ease quarantine requirements for some Hong Kong travellers.

Mainland bubble tea chain Nayuki saw its shares sink on its debut, losing 13.5 percent at the close.

But another market debutante, biotech firm Hutchmed soared. The subsidiary of Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Wampoa finished up 50.4 percent.

Markets across the border ended in positive territory, despite new data showing that China's factory activity fell to a four-month low in June.

The Shanghai Composite index put on 0.5 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index added more than 0.6 percent. The Shenzhen Composite jumped one percent.

Elsewhere, the Kospi in Seoul was 0.3 percent firmer, Taiwan put on 0.9 percent, Singapore was 1.4 percent higher, and Australia rose 0.2 percent. But Japan's Nikkei slipped just under 0.1 percent.