Hong Kong stocks tumbled 367 points, or 1.4%, to 26,094 in early Thursday trade, extending losses for a second session after Wall Street’s S&P 500 and Dow Jones slipped from record highs overnight on uneven U.S. economic data. Profit-taking deepened after local markets hit an over seven-week high earlier in the week, amid growing caution ahead of China’s December CPI and PPI due Friday. Geopolitical strains added pressure after Beijing banned exports of dual-use items to Japan, in retaliation for remarks on Taiwan by PM Sanae Takaichi. Losses were partly capped by Goldman Sachs’s upbeat outlook, projecting solid expansion in Chinese equities this year on earnings growth fueled by AI momentum. On fresh data, China’s forex reserves hit a 10-year peak in December, up for a sixth month amid a weaker U.S. dollar. All sectors weighed on the benchmark, dragged by financials and tech. Major laggards included Lenovo (-4.2%),, Kuaishou (-2.9%), KE Holdings (-2.4%), and Pop Mart Intl. (-1.6%).
