The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen fell to nearly 152, triggering global stock market declines due to arbitrage trading. In the Hong Kong stock market, the Hang Seng Index opened low by 50 points and the decline expanded. It fell to 16,964 points after a drop of 346 points. The full-day decline was 306 points or 1.8% to close at 17,004 points. The national index fell 125 points or 2.1% to close at 6,016 points. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 69 points or 2% to close at 3,421 points. The total turnover of the market for the day was 105.734 billion yuan, and the net outflow of southbound transactions in the Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect was 0.36 billion and 1.64 billion yuan in RMB.
ASMPT (00522.HK), a chip equipment manufacturer, fell more than 20% after its performance announcement yesterday, and fell another 10.6% to HKD 78.7 today. Semiconductor stocks, SMIC (00981.HK) and Huahong (01347.HK) fell 2.8% and 5.2%, respectively. Lenovo Group (00992.HK), a personal computer manufacturer, fell 3.9%. BYD Electronic (00285.HK), a mobile phone component stock, fell 3.3%, while Gao Wei (01415.HK) and Hongteng (06088.HK) fell 7.9% and 12.3%, respectively.
In other technology stocks, Meituan (03690.HK) fell 5.5% to HKD 107.1, Tencent (00700.HK) fell 3.3% to HKD 351.2, Xiaomi (01810.HK) and Baidu (09888.HK) fell more than 2%, Alibaba (09988.HK), JD.com (09618.HK), Netease (09999.HK), Kuaishou (01024.HK) and Bilibili (09626.HK) fell 0.7% to 1.3%, respectively. Meitu (01357.HK) expects its adjusted net profit in the first half of the year to increase by at least 80%, and its stock price rose 7.5% in reverse. Dongfangzhengxuan (01797.HK) rebounded 4.2%. After Tesla and General Motors, Ford's stock price fell after its performance announcement. The car stock Nio (09866.HK) fell 2.6%, and Ideal (02015.HK) and Xiaopeng (09868.HK) fell 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively. BYD (01211.HK) rose 0.5% to HKD 234.2.
Gold and silver stocks plummeted, with China Silver (00815.HK), Shandong Gold (01787.HK), Zijin (02899.HK) and Lingbao (03330.HK) falling 5.1% to 6.8%, and Zhaojin (01818.HK) and China Gold International (02099.HK) falling 10% and 11.7%, respectively. Resource stock Molybdenum (03993.HK) fell 6.7%, while Chalco (02600.HK), Jiang Copper (00358.HK) and MMG (01208.HK) fell more than 3%. Energy stocks softened, with Kunlun Energy (00135.HK), PetroChina (00857.HK) and CNOOC (00883.HK) falling 3.4% to 3.9%, and coal stocks Yancoal Energy (01171.HK) and China Coal Energy (01898.HK) also falling more than 3%.
Several mainland banks have lowered deposit interest rates, but the share prices of these banks fell. Bank of China (00939.HK), Agricultural Bank of China (01288.HK), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (01398.HK), China Construction Bank (03988.HK), and Postal Savings Bank of China (01658.HK) fell more than 1%, while Bank of Communications (03328.HK) and China Merchants Bank (03968.HK) fell 2.9% and 3.6%, respectively. Mainland insurance company Taiping Insurance (02601.HK) fell 3.7%. In other financial stocks, HSBC (00005.HK) fell 1% to HKD 66, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (00388.HK) and AIA (01299.HK) fell 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.
In other stocks, Sands China (01928.HK) posted an EBITDA growth of nearly 4% in the second quarter, missing expectations, and its stock price fell 2.7%. China Resources Building Materials (01313.HK) fell 5.9%, while CRRC (01766.HK) and China State Construction International (03311.HK) fell more than 4%. Some new energy stocks were popular, and Goldwind Technology (02208.HK) and Flat Glass (06865.HK) rose 6%, while Xinyi Solar (00968.HK) rose 3%. Electrical and electronic appliance stocks rose against the trend, with Hisense Home Appliances (00921.HK) and Haier Smart Home (06690.HK) rising 7.5% and 5.1%, respectively.