Hong Kong Market falls 0.9%

Hong Kong stock market finished session lower on Friday, 17 December 2021, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, with shares in technology companies leading retreat after the US sanctioned more Chinese tech companies and added others to a blacklist for alleged human rights abuses in the far-west Xinjiang region.

At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 0.91%, or 215.19 points, to 23,420.76. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.9%, or 75.70 points, to 8,342.91.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned eight companies, including drone maker DJI Technology and artificial intelligence giant Megvii. The Commerce Department separately added 34 firms to its so-called entity list.

Among major decliners, Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding lost more than 3.1%, while Meituan retreated 5.3%. Xinyi Solar, which produces solar panels in Xinjiang, sank 9.4% while Xinyi Glass tumbled 6%.

On the up side, HSBC climbed 2.8% while Standard Chartered jumped 2.3% after a surprise rate increase by the Bank of England, a move that could improve interest margins on their lending in home markets.

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