Hong Kong shares open higher but chipmakers and gold stocks weigh
Hong Kong shares opened higher on Friday but gave up gains as chipmakers and gold-related stocks fell. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.41 per cent before dropping 0.5 per cent. Local tech firms largely shrugged off US sell-offs, but chipmakers and miners were dragged lower by global declines.
Hong Kong shares opened higher on Friday but quickly gave up gains as gold-related stocks and chipmakers came under pressure, according to The Standard.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 93 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 23,027 at the open before falling back 115 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 22,818. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.51 per cent to 3,813 points.
Local tech heavyweights largely shrugged off the sell-off in US tech majors, where Meta, Amazon and Alphabet plunged 7 per cent, 4.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively. Alibaba increased 1.2 per cent, while Tencent slid 0.2 per cent. NetEase advanced 2.4 per cent, JD.com edged 2.1 per cent higher, and Meituan rose 1.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, the decline in the US Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which fell 6.72 per cent, and Nvidia's 4.4 per cent drop dragged down chipmakers in Hong Kong. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor dipped 2.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.
In the financial sector, HSBC slipped 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing opened flat, and AIA rose 0.1 per cent.
Spot gold fell as much as 2.9 per cent, approaching the US$4,000-per-ounce level, leading Zijin Mining to drop 3.8 per cent as the worst-performing blue chip. Lenovo and CATL followed, declining 3.3 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
