HK stocks join global selloff

Hong Kong stocks fell below 22,000 points in line with a global selloff, as markets were spooked by more aggressive noises from US policymakers about the need for tighter monetary policy.

The Hang Seng Index slid 1.2 percent, or 271 points to close at 21,808 yesterday.

Chinese tech stocks continued to lead the decline, with the Hang Seng Tech Index down 2.5 percent. Alibaba (9988) dropped 2.2 percent while Tencent (0700) closed 1.7 percent lower.

Meituan (3690) erased its earlier gains yesterday to lose nearly 1 percent as a non-executive director has sold HK$6 billion worth of shares in the food delivery giant.

In the morning session, Meituan once rose 7.2 percent after the firm said it would bring in 1,000 sorting workers from outside Shanghai as part of efforts to speed up deliveries in the city.

The decline in the market came after US Federal Reserve officials agreed to cut up to US$95 billion a month from the central bank's asset holdings as another tool in the fight against surging inflation, even as the war in Ukraine tempered the first US interest rate increase.

Also on investors' minds was growing economic strains in China, which is grappling with new outbreaks of Covid

Nomura estimated on Tuesday that a total of 23 Chinese cities have implemented either full or partial lockdowns, which collectively are home to an estimated 193 million people and contribute 22 percent of the country's GDP.

In other news, the average loss for the Mandatory Provident Fund last month was 1.49 percent while healthcare-related equity funds posted a 5.4 percent return, the best outperforming sector, data from Lipper showed.