HK shares fall as investors await new data

Shares in Hong Kong and around the region were mostly lower on Monday, as traders looked ahead for new clues on stock valuations and economic performance in the upcoming US earnings season and data releases.

The Hang Seng Index turned around from its positive open and fell as many as 424 points, before paring some of the losses to finish at 28,453, down 245 points or almost 0.9 percent.

Turnover was at HK$160.7 billion.

But standing out among the day’s losers, AAC Technologies soared almost 13 percent, after the smartphone equipment maker issued a positive profit alert saying its quarterly profit could jump tenfold.

Alibaba surged 6.5 percent as investors moved past its regulatory troubles after the e-commerce giant was fined a record penalty for monopolistic behaviour.

But other tech shares were battered. Meituan tumbled five percent, Xiaomi slumped three percent and heavyweight Tencent declined 1.1 percent.

The biggest blue-chip loser, though, was Geely, which plunged seven percent as automakers came under pressure.

Across the border, the Shanghai Composite Index shed 1.1 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index gave up 1.7 percent. The Shenzhen Composite was 2.1 percent lower.

Around the region, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8 percent. Australia edged down 0.3 percent. Singapore retreated 0.3 percent. But Taiwan was flat, while Seoul’s Kospi inched up 0.1 percent.