Hong Kong shares slump to one-month low, led by declines in tech stocks

Hong Kong stocks opened sharply lower on Friday, dragged down by a sell-off in technology shares.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 530 points, or 1.97 percent, to 26,354, marking its lowest level in nearly a month. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 2.42 percent to 5,275.

Major tech stocks slid across the board, with Tencent (0700) down 2.2 percent, Alibaba (9988) falling 3.8 percent, Xiaomi (1810) off 1.7 percent, JD.com (9618) down 2.4 percent, Netease (9999) losing 3 percent, and Baidu (9888) dropping 4.3 percent, while Meituan (3690) fell 1.3 percent.

Three new listing started trading, with Distinct Healthcare (2677) surging 35.2 percent to HK$81, Shenzhen Han’s CNC Technology (3200) gaining 10.6 percent to HK$106, while Muyuan Foods (2714) opened flat at HK$39.