Hong Kong stocks dropped on Thursday, as investors kept a close watch on mounting tensions between China and the US.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.1%, while the Hang Seng Technology Index fell 1.2%.

In terms of star stocks, NIO fell 9%; Xiaomi and XPeng fell 4%; SMIC fell 3%; Baidu and Li Auto fell 2%; Meituan and Tencent fell 1%; Alibaba fell 0.3%; while Laopu Gold and Pop Mart rose 6%; Bilibili rose 1%.

Stock traders have turned their attention to the flare-up of China-US tensions that have rattled global financial markets. US President Donald Trump said America was in a trade war with China, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later struck a reconciliatory tone. Bessent suggested an extension to the 90-day tariff truce with China, if Beijing held off on imposing restrictions on its exports of rare earths.

The following weeks are a critical time window to monitor how the China-US ties evolve. Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping by the end of the month in South Korea, with the 90-day tariff ceasefire between the two nations expiring on November 12.

The monthly money-supply data by China’s central bank showed that a rotation from banking deposits to stocks, which fuelled torrid gains in stocks in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland, slowed down. Deposits at non-banking financial institutions such as brokerages, trust and mutual fund firms decreased by 1.06 trillion yuan (US$148.8 billion) from the previous month in September, while household savings rose by almost 3 trillion yuan, according to the data released by the People’s Bank of China on Wednesday.