Hong Kong’s benchmark index ended the day almost unchanged, with the Hang Seng up a marginal 0.05%, while the Hang Seng Tech index languished, falling 1.84% as investors pared back exposure to big technology and semiconductor names.
Chipmakers led the decline among market leaders: Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics dropped more than 5%, Hua Hong Semiconductor fell nearly 5%, GigaDevice slid over 3% and SMIC lost more than 2%. The sell-off in chip names weighed on the broader technology complex, with internet heavyweights Tencent, Bilibili and Baidu retreating roughly 4%, 3% and 3% respectively.
Offsetting the technology weakness, commodity and property sectors staged a sharp move higher. Coal producers were among the best performers — Yankuang Energy rallied over 10% and China Shenhua climbed more than 5% — while mainland developers listed in Hong Kong surged: Shimao jumped over 14%, Sunac rose about 8% and Vanke and Yuexiu each gained roughly 6%.
The market’s split performance highlights a familiar theme in Chinese markets: rapid intra-day rotations between defensives, cyclicals and high-growth sectors. With large-cap tech names having run hard in recent months, profit-taking and sector rebalancing are now colliding with renewed interest in beaten-down cyclical assets such as coal and real estate.
For international investors the day underscores two continuing risks: the sensitivity of Chinese tech and chip stocks to shifts in sentiment and the potential for policy signals to swiftly redirect flows into domestic cyclicals. The divergence also reflects the global backdrop — weaker demand for some tech hardware and episodic concerns about supply chains may be pressuring semiconductor valuations even as commodity-linked names benefit from stronger local commodity prices and hopes of policy support for property.
Looking ahead, market direction will hinge on upcoming corporate earnings, any fresh commentary from Beijing on property-sector support, and broader global technology demand trends. In the short term investors should expect volatility as capital reallocates and traders reassess the relative attractiveness of growth versus cyclical exposures in Chinese and Hong Kong-listed stocks.