Hong Kong stocks trim morning declines following global selloff on US recession fears

Hong Kong stocks trimmed their declines by noon on Tuesday following a global selloff overnight on concerns that the world’s largest economy would be in recession in the wake of US President Donald Trump's tariff policy and government spending cuts.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index tumbled 221 points, or 0.93 percent, to 23,562 points by noon, after plunging nearly 545 points at one point in the morning trading session.

The market turnover was HK$177 billion. 

The Hang Seng Tech Index fell by a smaller rate at 0.68 percent, or 39 points, to 5,845 points. Shares of Meituan (3690) and JD.com (9618) both lost more than 3 percent, with prices at HK$169.30 and HK$157.30 by the noon close, respectively. Alibaba (9988) declined by 2 percent to HK$131.80 at the midday break.

Financial stocks were under pressure with HSBC (0005) falling 2.5 percent to HK$85.80, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) dipping 1.59 percent to HK$347.00 and China Life Insurance (2628) down 1.5 percent to HK$15.60.

The best performer among blue chip stocks was Sino Biopharmaceutical (1177), whose shares went up more than 5 percent to HK$3.52.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index dropped 0.47 percent to 3,350.26 points and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Composite Index went down by 0.75 percent to 2,065.08 points at the midday close.

STAFF REPORTER