The Hang Seng Index added 0.1 per cent to 26,405.64 as of 9.50am local time, after losing as much as 0.4 per cent earlier. The Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 0.7 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slid 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index lost less than 0.1 per cent.
Toymaker Pop Mart slumped 7.7 per cent to HK$255 after JPMorgan downgraded its shares to neutral, citing a lack of catalysts and an unattractive valuation. Search-engine giant Baidu fell 2.4 per cent to HK$112.30, while logistics firm ZTO Express declined 1.6 per cent to HK$146.60 and home appliance maker Midea Group slid 1.3 per cent to HK$84.80.
Limiting losses, bottled-water producer Nongfu Spring jumped 3.4 per cent to HK$54, while electric-car maker BYD added 1.4 per cent to HK$106. Online-game provider NetEase advanced 1.3 per cent to HK$239.40, and e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding rose 0.7 per cent to HK$152.20.
US-China talks in Madrid entered a second day on Monday, with discussions centred on trade issues and the fate of ByteDance’s TikTok, which faces a deadline for a deal to keep operating in the United States. US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that the negotiations with China were “going fine”, adding that TikTok’s fate depended on China’s actions.
“Markets see the outline – tariffs sharpened, sanctions dangled, chips weaponised, social-media apps turned into hostages,” said Stephen Innes, a managing partner at SPI Asset Management in Bangkok. “Madrid is less about finding common ground than testing which side blinks first before Trump and [China President] Xi Jinping step onto a bigger stage. For traders, this isn’t background noise. It’s the tectonic friction that could jolt currencies, equities and tech supply chains in the weeks ahead.”
