09.10.202502:23:40UTC+00Hong Kong Shares Down for 4th Session

Hong Kong's stock market experienced a downturn on Thursday morning, with a decline of 83 points, or 0.3%, bringing the index to 26,750. This marked the fourth consecutive day of losses as investors remained cautious ahead of an important policy meeting in China scheduled for later this month. The financial sector suffered the most, falling by 1.7%, following recent data that revealed the city’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to a five-month low in September, marking the third monthly decrease in a row.

In corporate developments, HSBC Holdings announced its intention to take Hang Seng Bank private in an acquisition deal valued at USD 37.3 billion. This news led to a significant drop of over 5% in HSBC's Hong Kong shares, while shares of Hang Seng Bank surged nearly 30%. Meanwhile, technology stocks faced setbacks amid reports of U.S. legislators advocating for expanded restrictions on the export of chipmaking equipment to China. Additionally, consumer stocks weakened due to ongoing deflationary trends in China.

The healthcare sector also saw significant declines, with pharmaceutical companies like Innovent Biologics, Sino Biopharma, and Wuxi Biologics dropping by 9.0%, 6.7%, and 3.4%, respectively. These declines were somewhat mitigated by the resumption of trading on the mainland following an eight-day break for the National Day holiday.