HSI Weighed Down By Tech Shares

Hong Kong shares drifted lower and regional markets were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street pulled back overnight on widening coronavirus curbs.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 187 points, or 0.7 percent at 26,356 on turnover of HK$131.9 billion as tech plays weighed on the local benchmark.

Heavyweight Tencent was the worst performer on the index, sliding 2.7 percent, and Alibaba retreated 1.9 percent.

But Xiaomi surged 5 percent to become the day's blue-chip winner after the smartphone maker reported that it sold 140 million units of its Redmi Note.

Markets across the border were lifted by consumer shares after Beijing promised to promote the consumption of home appliances and cars and boost the catering sector.

The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5 percent, the blue-chip CSI300 index added 0.7 percent and the Shenzhen Composite climbed 0.6 percent.

Across the region, the Nikkei slipped as Japan reported a record high number of daily coronavirus cases. Taiwan fell 0.4 percent. Singapore was also down.

But Sydney was up 0.25 percent after the country’s latest jobs numbers beat estimates, and Seoul’s Kospi was marginally higher.