SHANGHAI: Mainland China and Hong Kong shares ended lower on Friday, as a global sell-off in technology shares and sharp losses in silver futures dampened investor sentiment.
At the close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite index inched down by 0.25percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index lost 0.57percent. For the week, both indexes dropped 1.27percent and 1.33percent, respectively. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 1.21percent and logged the worst weekly performance since November 2025, falling 3.02percent.
The city’s tech shares dropped 1.11percent on Friday. Losses in tech were tracking their global peers. Shares of US software and data services companies extended their tumble for a seventh straight session on Thursday as investors worried that fast-advancing artificial intelligence tools could upend the sector. “Looking ahead to 2026, equity markets appear poised to navigate a more complex investment regime defined by diversification, valuation discipline, and geopolitical realities,” said Bob Savage, head of markets macro strategy at BNY.
“AI will remain a structural growth driver, but investor focus is shifting from broad-based enthusiasm toward differentiated business models, capital efficiency, and defensible revenue streams,” Savage said. Gold prices stabilised and helped some non-ferrous metal shares pare losses, while prices of Shanghai-traded silver futures closed down about 14.02percent. China’s sole silver futures fund slumped by its 10percent daily limit on Friday, its fifth straight session of decline, after a global sell-off in precious metals wiped out significant investor gains.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng materials index dropped 1.17percent, when China’s CSI SWS non-ferrous metal index bounced 0.37percent.
Much of the attention will shift to China’s January inflation data due next Wednesday, as recent gold price volatility could contribute significantly to consumer inflation, traders and analysts said.
“The effect on core CPI depends on jewellery’s proportion in the basket and changes in landed prices,” said Xing Zhaopeng, senior China strategist at ANZ.
“In countries like India, Indonesia, and Mainland China, jewellery accounts for over 1percent of the core basket – the highest in the region. Households in these economies often buy gold and jewellery as savings.”
Trading is expected to gradually get thin next week, ahead of the long Lunar New Year holidays, the biggest and most important festival in China. The week-long holiday starts from February 15 this year.
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