Hong Kong Stocks Slide in September Debut, Led by Alibaba’s 3% Drop
Hang Seng Index sees second consecutive decline as tech giants and Shein's IPO struggle
Hong Kong's benchmark index fell for a second straight session Tuesday as trading opened for September, with heavyweight tech names including Alibaba leading declines on the first trading day of the month.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.93% at 25,329, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.59% to 8,462, and the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.49% to 4,550 — closing at its intraday low — on turnover of HK$238.7 billion, according to Gelonghui and i-Cable. Alibaba (9988.HK) fell 3.33%, Tencent slid 2.56%, JD.com dropped 3.21% and Meituan lost 2.85%, Gelonghui reported; i-Cable said Tencent, Meituan, Alibaba and newly dual-listed Baidu all fell between 2% and 3%.
The session tracked broader risk-off sentiment after US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz, pushing Brent crude higher, according to Trading Economics. Hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh revived bets on a September rate move, while renewed weakness in China's property sector added to the drag.
Shein's long-awaited Hong Kong debut added to the gloomy mood. The fast-fashion retailer raised HK$13.6 billion in its IPO at HK$48.56 a share, valuing the company at roughly $26.5 billion, but its stock fell more than 9% shortly after trading began.
Tuesday's losses extended a rocky stretch for Hong Kong tech stocks that began in late August. Alibaba priced a HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) placement of 710 million new shares on Aug. 23 at HK$112.70 apiece — an 8.4% discount to its prior close — to fund AI infrastructure spending, according to the company's own announcement. It was the largest primary follow-on stock offering in Hong Kong's history and the third-largest globally this year, behind only Alphabet and Intel. Alibaba shares plunged as much as 10% when trading resumed on Aug. 24, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell almost 4% that day, one of its steepest single-session drops of the month, Reuters and CNBC reported.
The Hang Seng Index closed at 25,567 on Monday, having already slipped as US-China and Middle East headlines weighed on sentiment through the last week of August.
Investors are now watching the US August jobs report, due Friday, for signals on the Fed's next move — with markets already pricing a roughly even chance of a rate cut this month, Trading Economics reported.
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