Hong Kong shares close flat

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares finished unchanged on Monday, as gains in energy and financial stocks offset losses in tech giants.

The Hang Seng index was unchanged at 24,579.55, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.1%, to 8,589.53 points.

Tech giants led the drop in the main sub-indexes, after stunningly strong US jobs data added to the risk of an aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve. The Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.9%, with Alibaba Group down 4.5% to become the biggest percentage decliner in the Hang Seng Index.

The energy sector went up 3.2%, with CNOOC and PetroChina rising 4.2% and 3.3%, respectively, to lead gains in the Hang Seng on firm global oil prices.

Hang Seng Finance Index added 0.6%, and China Construction Bank gained 1.7% to become the biggest point contributor supporting the Hang Seng benchmark.

Activity in China’s services sector in January expanded at the slowest pace in five months, as a surge in local COVID-19 cases and containment measures hit new business and consumer sentiment.