HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday as investors locked in gains after the index hit a new four-year high in the previous session.
By the lunch break, the Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was down 0.87%.
Shares of tech giants, which had surged in the previous session, led the declines on Friday, falling 1.4%.
Automakers BYD and Xpeng dropped 4.5% and 3.9%, respectively.
Hong Kong-listed mainland property firms were also among the worst performers, down 1.5%.
Market participants attributed Friday’s decline to some profit-taking, given the Hang Seng has logged five straight monthly gains since May and has surpassed the key 27,000 level.
Short-term volatility aside, some analysts believe Hong Kong stocks’ bull run still has legs.
“Valuations in Chinese equities remain very attractive and the rapid development of the country’s huge tech sector has generated a lot of interest,” Sandy Pei, senior portfolio manager for Asia ex-Japan at Federated Hermes, said in a note.
Mainland China markets are closed from October 1 to 8 for the Golden Week holiday.
American Dollar Exchange Rate