HSI Logs Steep Losses As Tech Sell-off Spills Over

Local shares plunged almost 700 points at one stage and finished Tuesday deep in the red along with their peers in the region, after inflation fears had stoked heavy selling of several tech shares on Wall Street.

Mainland markets, however, edged higher on positive economic data.

The Hang Seng Index was down more than 300 points from the start and remained under pressure through the day, dipping below the 28,000-mark at one stage. It managed to recoup some of the losses to close 581 points, or two percent, lower, at 28,013.

The dumping of tech shares continued in Asia. The Hang Seng Tech Index tumbled three percent.

Meituan extended losses, diving 5.2 percent. Alibaba slid 3.5 percent. Xiaomi declined 2.4 percent. Tencent lost 1.8 percent.

But the worst performer on the benchmark was Geely, which sank more than six percent, after it reported a year-on-year drop in April total sales volume.

Markets across the border finished in positive territory, after official data showed that industrial profitability jumped more than expected. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index put on 0.6 percent. The Shenzhen Composite gained 0.4 percent.

Elsewhere in Tokyo, the Nikkei slumped 3.1 percent. Seoul's Kospi retreated 1.2 percent. Taiwan dropped 3.8 percent. Singapore and Australia each lost more than one percent.