SHANGHAI: Hong Kong stocks fell on Thursday, dragged by Tencent and Meituan ahead of earnings amid regulatory concerns, while China shares were lower led by media and healthcare firms.
The Hang Seng index dropped 1.4%, to 25,305.07 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises index lost 1.8%, to 9,032.22.
The CSI300 index fell 0.6%, to 4,854.43 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1%, to 3,532.81 points.
Tech giants listed in Hong Kong dropped 3%, their biggest intraday decline since Oct. 27.
Alibaba Group slumped nearly 5% ahead of results later in the day, while Meituan shed 3.2%. The two index heavyweights together dragged the Hang Seng index down 181 points.
Alibaba's Singles Day sales grew at the slowest pace ever, underscoring strong regulatory and supply chain headwinds for China's tech firms.
Hong Kong stocks down at start of day
Analysts said expectations for Alibaba are low and earnings will not likely be a driver of the stock.
What matters now is whether the regulatory tightening is ending, otherwise any positive movement in the sector is simply not sustainable, the analysts said.
Mainland real estate developers listed in Hong Kong and healthcare firms lost 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
In mainland China markets, media companies lost 2.8%, led by metaverse-related stocks, after state media People's Daily published an article to tell people to think rationally on metaverse.
Real estate developers and healthcare firms fell more than 1.4% each.
Coal shares gained 1.6%. China will establish a special relending facility worth 200 billion yuan ($31.35 billion) to support the clean use of coal, state broadcaster CCTV said on Wednesday.
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