Concerns about trade tensions between China and the US drove
Hong Kong stocks lower for a second day, as the world’s two largest economies stopped short of finalising a new deal that would extend a 90-day tariff pause.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 per cent to 25,415.94 at the noon break, while the Hang Seng Tech Index slumped 1.6 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both rose 0.5 per cent.
Electric-vehicle makers led the declines after Morningstar said fierce industry competition would restrain stock prices. Li Auto tumbled 11 per cent to HK$107.30 and BYD sank 4.4 per cent to HK$122.60. Post owner
Alibaba Group Holding slid 1.3 per cent to HK$119.10 and rival JD.com dropped 1.6 per cent to HK$128.30.
HSBC Holdings shed 0.4 per cent to HK$100.40 before saying during the noon break that its second-quarter profit fell 29 per cent from a year earlier.
China and the US concluded their two-day
third round of trade negotiations in Stockholm, with the two sides remaining at odds over the extension of a ceasefire plan. Chinese negotiators said that an extension agreement had been reached, but US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China had “jumped the gun a little” and all terms needed to be approved by President Donald Trump. The existing 90-day truce expires on August 12.
Investors are also keeping a close eye on the US Federal Reserve’s rate decision and the unfolding earnings season. The Fed is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate between 4.25 and 4.5 per cent on Thursday. Some eight companies in the Hang Seng Index are due to release interim reports this week.
“With US-China talks dragging on in Stockholm, there’s a growing sense that the momentum is stalling,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok. “It makes little sense for the Fed to wax dovish given the inflation unknowns still lurking around the corner, particularly from tariff pass-throughs.”
