China stocks fall as chip, robotics sell-off overshadows Unitree IPO; HK inches up

HONG KONG: Chinese stocks fell on Wednesday, led by a sell-off in semiconductor and robotics shares amid concerns over the broader economy and certain disappointing corporate earnings, while Hong Kong shares edged up.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index was down 2.4% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2%.

Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was up 0.2%. Shares in Unitree, China’s best-known humanoid robot maker, soared nearly 500% by the midday in its Shanghai trading debut.

Investors see the IPOas pivotal for the country’s robotics sector, which has become a key battleground in the Sino-US tech war.

Still, the broader CSI Robot Index slumped more than 6% while semiconductor stocks lost 7%, tracking a retreat in global tech stocks amid surging long-term borrowing costs.

“China’s weakness today looks more like a combination of global yield pressure, some rotation out of crowded technology trades and company-specific earnings disappointments than simply a Unitree liquidity drain,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Singapore.

The bigger message is that investors are becoming more demanding on earnings and AI monetisation, while the broader economy continues to show signs of weakness, she added.

In Hong Kong, index heavyweight Baidu tumbled 12% due to lower-than-expected second-quarter results.

China Unicom dropped nearly 8% as the firm posted an over 30% decline in first-half net profit.

Financial and property shares outperformed in both A-share and Hong Kong markets, as investors pinned hopes on the property sector after China announced revised regulations to allow flexible usage of its housing provident fund.

The smaller Shenzhen index fell 3.86%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index dropped 4.98% and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index slumped 6.07%. ‑Reuters