Hong Kong stocks closed slightly lower on Monday, dragged down by technology and consumer sectors as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of China's biggest online shopping festival, Double 11, according to a market analyst.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index edged down 0.13 percent to close at 24,448.95 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dipped 0.17 percent to 8,260.15 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.92 percent to 4,040.73 points.
Timothy Pope, a market analyst at China Global Television Network, recapped the market dynamics in Hong Kong.
"Hong Kong investors were rather cautious. The Hang Seng notably underperformed some of the other regional markets, and it finished just slightly in negative territory -- essentially flat. Tech and consumer stocks really did weigh on that index. Food-delivery giant Meituan was the biggest loser, shedding 6.5 percent. That came after Morgan Stanley cut its price target by more than 18 percent. The bank warned that China's e-commerce sector is maturing, but the cutthroat competition isn't going away. And that means growth is likely to slow without those necessarily much improvements in profitability that we might normally expect from a maturing industry. It's interesting timing too, of course, just ahead of China's biggest online shopping festival -- Double 11. And Meituan is not the only company that was downgraded. Morgan Stanley also cut its target price for U.S.-listed Pinduoduo by more than 30 percent," said the analyst.
Hong Kong stocks edge down dragged by tech and consumer sectors: analyst
