Tech stocks were under pressure. Alibaba (09988) and Tencent (00700) accounted for nearly half of the HSI's decline. The former fell 3.12% to HK$105.4, while the latter dropped 1.68% to HK$410.8; Baidu (09888) declined 1.13% to HK$78.55, Meituan (03690) fell 0.66% to HK$75.2, and Kuaishou (01024) dropped 2.05% to HK$28.7.
The news of Britain's increased bank tax continued to reverberate, compounded by market concerns over instability in Europe triggered by unrest in France. HSBC (00005) fell 2.67% to HK$145.7, while Standard Chartered (02888) plunged 4.11% to HK$214.4.
China's third-quarter GDP growth of 4.5% met the lower limit of the official target, yet mainland bank stocks still declined. ICBC (01398) dropped 1.32% to HK$7.49, ABC (01288) fell 0.74% to HK$6.69, and CCB (00939) declined 0.56% to HK$9.81.
AI hardware sector stocks moved divergently. Lenovo Group (00992) fell 7.56% to HK$25.94, SMIC (00981) dropped 1.15% to HK$51.8, and Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347) declined 1.13% to HK$74.1. Meanwhile, Dongshan Precision (02384), which is currently conducting its IPO and has secured cornerstone investments from 20 institutions including Morgan Asset Management, saw Jian Tao CCL (01888) rise 4% to HK$41.06, Shenghong Technology (02476) surge 7.48% to HK$162.4, and Yangtze Optical Fibre & Cable (06869) climb 3.71% to HK$128.6.
Biotech stocks rose against the market trend. Hansoh Pharmaceutical (03692) gained 7.5% to HK$34.12, WuXi Biologics (02269) rose 5.5% to HK$50.85, China Bio-Pharmaceutical (01177) increased 2.76% to HK$5.395, and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group (01093) advanced 2.41% to HK$8.91.
Apple is scheduled to hold a launch event on October 28, where the first touchscreen Mac is expected to debut. Sunny Optical Technology (02382) rose 4.16% to HK$60.1.
Mainland China's total retail sales of consumer goods in September rose 1.1% year-on-year, better than the expected 0.6% increase and the highest level in six months. Nongfu Spring (09633) rose 2.28% to HK$42.14, Haidilao (06862) gained 2.08% to HK$9.56, Mengniu Dairy (02319) advanced 1.01% to HK$18.99, and Xiaomi (01810) rose 1.58% to HK$27.08.
The top three most actively traded stocks in the HSI and H-share index were Tencent, Alibaba, and Pop Mart (09992). Pop Mart closed at HK$137.7, down 3.2%, with turnover of HK$2.289 billion. The top three most actively traded stocks in the Tech Index were Tencent, Alibaba, and Lenovo Group. (ey)