Hong Kong-Listed Shares of Tech Giants Fell on Friday

Shares of many Chinese tech giants suffered losses on Friday, but before discussing shares of tech giants, let’s look at stocks in Asia-Pacific. Stocks were mixed on June 4, as the Reserve Bank of India held steady on interest rates.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.17% to close at 28,918.10. In mainland China, the Shanghai composite gained 0.21 to finish its trading day at 3,591.84. The Shenzhen component added 0.744% to close at 14,870.91.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% to close at 28,941.52. The Topix index ended its trading day fractionally higher at 1,959.19.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.23% to 3,240.08.

Meanwhile, stocks in Australia rose, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.49% higher on the day to 7,295.40.

Shares in India were lower in Friday trade, with the Nifty 50 dropping 0.41% as well as the BSE Sensex falling 0.51%, as of 1:49 p.m. local time. The moves came after the country’s central bank announced its decision to keep interest rates steady.

Shares of Alibaba and other tech giants

Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba dropped 0.28% on Friday. The company’s shares declined even though Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group received approval to operate a consumer finance company. That marked a main positive development for Ant Group in the forced restructuring of its business.

Shares of other Hong Kong-listed companies also fell: Baidu declined 3.1% while Tencent fell 0.65%, and Meituan dropped 1.69%. The broader Hang Seng Tech index declined 0.84% to 8,095.64.

Technology stocks also declined in other parts of the world. Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group fell 1.29% while South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix declined 0.39%.

Investor sentiment on the sector may have taken a hit following U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision. On Thursday, Biden expanded restrictions on American investments in certain Chinese companies with alleged ties to the country’s military and surveillance efforts.

In an executive order, he barred U.S. investors from financial interests in 59 Chinese companies over fears of their links to the country’s government geopolitical ambitions.

Among the 59 companies prohibited are Aero Engine Corp. of China, Huawei Technologies, Aerosun Corp., and others.

Biden’s latest decision is one of the most forceful to date against the top U.S. rival. His decision shows that the Biden administration may adopt or advance many of the tactics used by the Trump administration. Joe Biden as well as his economic advisors must also determine what to do with a raft of tariffs.