HSI opens 44 points lower

The Hang Seng Index opened 44 points lower at 19,558. 

Among tech stocks, Tencent (0700) fell 0.34 percent, Alibaba (9988) dropped 0.82 percent, Meituan (3690) rose 0.39 percent, JD.com (9618) gained 1.4 percent, and Xiaomi (1810) declined 1 percent.

Geely (0175) rose 3.5 percent at the open after Chairman Li Shufu increased his stake for two consecutive days. Among other automakers, Li Auto (2015) gained 2.37 percent, XPeng (9868) added 1.29 percent, while BYD (1211) edged down 0.23 percent.

Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering (2566) debuted at HK$7.50, 39.6 percent below its offer price of HK$12.42, with pre-market turnover of HK$9.31 million.

The China Enterprises Index opened at 7,016, down 0.2 percent, while the Hang Seng Tech Index started at 4,379, up 0.2 percent.