HK Market Ravaged As Regulatory Fears Persist

The Hang Seng Index lost more than a thousand points for a second straight day on Tuesday, despite Wall Street leading most of its regional peers higher.

The blue-chip index gave up early gains and sank by as many as 1,443 points to breach the 25,000 mark – but managed to claw back some of those losses to end the day down 1,105 points, or 4.2 percent, at 25,086.

Turnover reached a whopping HK$360.7 billion.

Dumping of tech shares spilled over to other sectors in Hong Kong, with Alibaba Health Information Technology, which dived 18.5 percent, the day’s biggest blue-chip loser.

Analysts say investors fear the healthcare sector could be the next target in Beijing's regulatory clampdown.

The Hang Seng Tech Index tumbled 8 percent as it marked its one-year anniversary. On year, the gauge was off 9 percent.

Meituan slumped 17.7 percent on Tuesday's close. Tencent sank 9 percent, Alibaba gave up 6.4 percent, and Xiaomi retreated 5.8 percent.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing declined 6.6 percent, while AIA lost about 4 percent.

But other financials fared well – Citic jumping 2.4 percent to become the day's top blue-chip performer while HSBC put on 1.8 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index also gave up early gains to close 2.5 percent lower, while the blue-chip CSI300 index shed 3.5 percent. The Shenzhen Composite dropped 3.3 percent.

Taiwan fell 0.5 percent.

But the Nikkei in Japan put on 0.5 percent, Seoul's Kospi edged up 0.2 percent, Australia gained 0.5 percent, and Singapore was flat.