Hong Kong shares fell 489 points, or 1.8%, to 26,604 in Tuesday morning trading, erasing a 2.5% rally in the previous session after a sharp selloff on Wall Street. The decline on U.S. markets was driven by renewed uncertainty over U.S. trade policy following President Trump’s announcement of a new global tariff in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling.
The Hang Seng pulled back from a two-week high, with losses broad-based across sectors. Technology stocks dropped more than 2% ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report, while consumer and financial shares weakened after local data showed Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.9% in the three months to January, the highest in more than three years.
Investors were also cautious ahead of several key releases due this week, including Hong Kong’s Q4 GDP, January inflation, and trade data. Even so, a rebound in the Shanghai Composite helped cap losses as mainland Chinese markets reopened after the Lunar New Year holidays, and the People’s Bank of China kept its loan prime rates at record lows for a ninth consecutive month.
Among the notable decliners were Tencent Music Entertainment (-4.3%), Laopu Gold (-3.9%), Pop Mart International (-3.4%), and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) (-1.8%).
