Hong Kong equities slipped 49 points, or 0.2%, to 26,703 in early Monday trade, snapping a three-session winning streak as U.S. futures fell sharply after a mixed Wall Street close Friday, weighed by geopolitical tensions and weakness in tech stocks ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve rate decision. Locally, Hong Kong’s Q3 business sentiment edged lower to -3 from -2 in the previous period, marking nearly two years in negative territory. Caution also grew ahead of China’s 2025 industrial profit report in the coming days, after muted January–November growth of 0.1% and a tumble of 13% in November. Still, losses were tempered by a four-day rise in mainland equities after the central bank last week boosted liquidity to cover Chinese New Year funding needs in February. Sector declines in technology and consumer names outweighed gains in property and financials. Notable laggards included XPeng (-4.0%), Kuaishou (-3.1%), SMIC (-2.1%), and Xiaomi (-1.9%).
