Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.9 percent on Monday as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report lifted Fed rate hike expectations, turning investors risk-off, said Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Hong Kong's stock market ended lower, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 0.93 percent to close at 25,413.12 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1.46 percent to end at 8,429.73 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.92 percent to end at 4,527.71 points.
Pope said the decline was caused by the latest stronger-than-expected U.S. payrolls data, which raised expectation for Fed rate hike that would likely hit Hong Kong-listed growth stocks.
"The Hang Seng [Index] slipped 0.9 percent. Investors turned risk-off after the U.S. payrolls data was released and that affects the market's odds of a Fed interest rate hike this month. A rate hike would hit growth stocks and that's exactly the kind of companies the Hong Kong is trying to attract onto its exchange at the moment," he said.
Pope added that Xiaomi was among today's biggest losers with the company's share price dropping by 3.3 percent.
"Among today's losers were Chinese tech names like Xiaomi, which shed 3.3 percent ahead of a major new phone launch tonight. Investors had pushed Xiaomi stock higher last week after that launch was announced, so today looked a bit more like profit-taking after buying that rumor rather than any judgment on the new handset itself," said Pope.
Pope said the Hong Kong market will see the trading debut of Longsys, continuing its tradition of attracting growth enterprises.
"Tomorrow we are going to see the trading debut of Longsys, a Chinese memory and semiconductor company which owns the Lexar storage brand. It's already listed in Shenzhen, so the Hong Kong debut will give the company a second listing. I was just talking about attracting growth stocks -- this is one of them," said Pope.
Analyst on declined Hong Kong shares on Monday
Former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim has called for greater global cooperation and trade dialogue with China, highlighting the country's rapid expansion in green technology and renewable energy.
Solheim emphasized that China plays a key role in global governance, citing its progress over the past decade in addressing environmental degradation and curbing pollution.
"China is now the indispensable leader for the green transformation and the leader in poverty alleviation. So the world has a lot to learn from Chinese experiences, and China should make those lessons available for other nations to learn from," said Solheim.
Reflecting on the past decade, Solheim highlighted that China has transitioned from a passive participant to a dominant force in green technology.
"The biggest change in the last 10 years is that China has moved from somewhat in the back seat on the environment at that time and now being the leader on every green development. And whatever green technology you can mention, China is totally dominant and has brought it down in price, which is an enormous service to the world," said Solheim.
"But China has also been fantastic in establishing national parks in tree planting, in curbing pollution. So it's so refreshing, so important China has been able to do moving from back seat to the front seat on the environment," he said.
Solheim also highlighted China's contribution to global renewable energy, noting that its industrial scale has driven down costs and made clean technology affordable around the world.
"You go green and you go prosperous. That's by far the most important gift from China to the world. Indonesia, Ethiopia, Brazil, they all want Chinese investment. And China can drive electric cars, solar panels, windmills in all these nations. You see a lot of that, but we want to see more so that technology is shared and so that jobs and prosperity is growing," he said.
"The big issue here is that China is now so super efficient making solar panels or electric cars so much better than anyone else, that there is a scary affair in Europe and that Europe is not competitive. You may say that in the past when Europe dominated the car industry, no one was worried, but now when China is dominating electric cars, Europe is very worried. So the solution to this in my view is more joint ventures, companies and constant trade negotiations to find the right balance between the Chinese efficiency and the European desire for jobs in Europe. Because the alternative to that is protectionism, that will simply make everyone more poor. Protectionism will harm Europe and it will harm China and we should avoid it," he added.
Beyond economic ties, Solheim called for expanded cultural and educational exchanges. Increased tourism and student visits would help foster mutual understanding and deepen cross-cultural dialogue between Europe and China, he noted.
Former UN official highlights China's green transformation, urges EU-China dialogue
