HSI Falls Again As Tech Plays Take Battering

Hong Kong and most regional shares extended their losses on Tuesday, rattled by concerns over regulatory tightening of the mainland internet sector and a worldwide spike in Covid-19 infections driven by the Delta variant.

Tech shares dragged down the Hang Seng Index, which lost more than 550 points before ending the day down 435 points, or nearly 1.7 percent, at 25,745 for its fourth day of losses.

Market turnover was HK$166.1 billion.

Tencent lost 4.1 percent, Alibaba fell 4.8 percent and Meituan shed 3.5 percent.

This came after mainland regulators issued new draft rules banning unfair competition and restricting the use of user data, the latest move by the central government to tighten control of the technology sector.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 2 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index shed 2.1 percent. The Shenzhen Composite fell 2.3 percent.

Shares in Taiwan hit a fresh two-and-a-half-month low after retreating 1.2 percent.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei was in the red for a fourth straight day, giving up nearly 0.4 percent as concerns about the Delta coronavirus variant overshadowed optimism towards upbeat earnings. The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.9 percent. Singapore and Australian stocks were down by similar margins.