HK bucks trend as tech jitters rattle regional markets

Blue-chip shares on the mainland closed lower on Friday and booked their steepest monthly loss since early 2016, as a global selloff in AI stocks weighed on sentiment. In Hong Kong, however, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 335 points, or 1.5 percent, higher for the day at 23,294 on turnover of HK$214.32 billion and was 0.9 percent up for the week. The tech index rose 10 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,754, although the gauge still hovered near its lowest in two years. "At valuations of 10-11 times price-to-earnings after accounting for new AI investment, we think some stocks are increasingly treating the spending peak as a permanent earnings burden, while assigning limited value to a normalisation of future cash flows or successful AI monetisation," said Kenneth Fong, head of China internet research at UBS. Financials led gains, up 1.3 percent, while mainland property developers rose 2.8 percent. The China enterprises index put on 106 points, or 1.4 percent, to end at 7,862. Across the border, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 52 points, or 1.44 percent, to close at 3,599 on turnover of 764.22 billion yuan while the blue-chip CSI300 Index fell 1.4 percent to close near a one-year low. The CSI300 Index was down 8.5...