Hang Seng Slips for Second Day on Profit-Taking, Tariff Jitters

The Hang Seng fell 19 points or almost 0.1% to close at 24,499 on Thursday, declining for the second straight session as profit-taking persisted after the benchmark hit a four-month high earlier in the week.

A slight dip in U.S. futures ahead of key retail sales data later in the day also weighed on sentiment.

Meanwhile, concerns over rising U.S. tariffs lingered after President Trump announced plans to send letters to over 150 countries, outlining potential tariff rates between 10% and 15%.

He described most of the recipients as “not big countries” with limited trade ties to the U.S. Financial stocks were mostly lower, with losses from Bank of China Hong Kong (-1.1%), Ping An Insurance (-0.6%), and AIA Group (-0.4%).

On the other hand, auto stocks advanced after Chinese authorities vowed to rein in excessive competition and pricing wars in the electric vehicle sector.

Notable gainers included Li Auto (9.5%), Geely Auto (3.9%), and Xpeng (0.9%).