Hong Kong shares end with losses, biopharmaceutical stocks rally

Hong Kong stocks erased early gains to close lower on Thursday, while biopharmaceutical stocks outperformed the market.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 97 points, or 0.39 percent, to 25,213. The full-day turnover hit a nearly four-month low at HK$199.3 billion.

The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.08 percent to 4,468 points.

Sino Biopharmaceutical (1177) surged 6.3 percent, marking the best performance among blue chips.

Its peers CSPC Pharmaceutical (1093), WuXi Biologics (2269), and Hansoh Pharmaceutical (3692) also gained 4.8 percent, 3 percent, and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Developers China Resources Land (1109) and China Overseas Land & Investment (0688) advanced 3.5 percent and 2.3 percent.

However, Trip.com (9961) led the decline among HSI constituents, slumping 5.4 percent at the close.

Tech heavyweights Alibaba (9988) and Tencent (0700) dragged down the market, down 2.2 percent and 1.2 percent.

Tech firms Kuaishou Technology (1024). Xiaomi (1810) and NetEase (9999) fell 2.6 percent, 2.2 percent, and 2 percent.

Chinese artificial intelligence firm MiniMax (0100) rose 3.6 percent, while Z.AI (2513) edged down 0.81 percent.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index closed flat at 3,942 points, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index inched up 0.1 percent to 13,625 points.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓