HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks recouped earlier losses on Tuesday as a selloff in AI-related shares across Asia subsided, but China’s blue-chip index still finished at its lowest close in more than a year.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.1 percent, after falling as much as 1.4 percent in the morning session to a three-month low. The blue-chip CSI300 Index recovered some losses to close down 0.3 percent.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index swung to a gain of 0.3 percent at close, but the Hang Seng Tech Index remained in the red, down 0.8 percent.
Risk appetite has been weak due to the widening conflict in the Middle East and higher global yields.
Asian stocks fell sharply on Tuesday as investors fretted about the durability of the rally in AI shares and increased competition.
Japan’s Nikkei index fell as much as 2.8 percent before recovering some losses while South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index plunged 7 percent at one point before closing down 5.5 percent.
Soothing the market anxiety a bit, economists polled by Reuters forecast that China’s exports rose 25.5 percent year-on-year in US dollar terms in September, accelerating from the 25 percent growth in August, sustaining robust momentum despite pressure from some trading partners.
Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 Index and the startup board ChiNext Composite Index both reversed hefty morning losses.
The CSI AI Index dropped 0.3 percent after touching a six-month low, and the CSI Semiconductor Index gained 0.5 percent, having lost more than 30 percent from July peaks.
Market heavyweight CXMT fell as much as 5.3 percent to the lowest level since July despite reports of progress on its memory-chip design. The stock closed down 3 percent.