Local Stocks Down At Break As Pandemic Worsens

Hong Kong stocks finished Friday's morning session with slight losses as virus cases spike around the world, though investors were keeping tabs on US stimulus developments.

The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.16 percent, or 41 points, to 26,686.

It was a similar story across the border, where stocks were weighed down by escalating Sino-US trade tensions, but were set for weekly gains on the back of data that pointed to a recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

The CSI300 index fell 0.4 percent to 5,038 at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 percent to 3,430.

The US on Thursday added China's top chipmaker, SMIC, and oil giant CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, a move likely to escalate tensions with Beijing before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Chinese state media warned that some damage to Sino-US ties is "beyond repair" amid a new wave of counter-China measures by the Trump administration. (AFP/Reuters)