HSI Loses Ground As Baidu Disappoints On HK Debut

Local blue-chips finished in negative territory on Tuesday after failing to hold on to early gains.

Mainland search engine Baidu ended at its listing price on its Hong Kong debut, despite a tech rally leading Wall Street higher overnight.

Sentiment was weighed down by ongoing inflation and interest rate concerns and a pullback in mainland shares.

The Hang Seng Index was up nearly 160 points during early trade but soon reversed course and slid into the red to lose as many as 509 points.

It pared back its losses to end the day down 387 points, or 1.3 percent, at 28,497. Market turnover was HK$166.6 billion.

The worst performer on the benchmark – Geely – dived 6.6 percent, after the mainland automaker posted a 32-percent drop in annual profit.

Meituan slumped 5.2 percent, and Xiaomi tumbled 4.1 percent.

Baidu started the day 0.8 percent above its listing price and put on as much as two percent, but the Nasdaq-listed firm gave back most of the gains to wrap up the day at its debut price of HK$252.20.

Across the border, the Shanghai Composite Index and the blue-chip CSI300 index each retreated more than 0.9 percent. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 1.1 percent.

Markets elsewhere in the region were also under pressure. Japan's Nikkei lost 0.6 percent as investors booked profit. The Kospi in Seoul dropped one percent. Australia inched down 0.1 percent. Taiwan was marginally lower.