HK stocks fell on Thursday after Beijing’s market regulator summoned major online platforms for talks over irregularities in the online sale of train tickets ahead of Lunar New Year, triggering losses among technology heavyweights.
The Hang Seng Index decreased 0.9%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.7%.
In terms of star stocks, Meituan, NetEase, Bilibili down 4%; Tencent down 3%; Alibaba, Pop Mart down 2%; Knowledge Atlas up 28%; MiniMax up 18%; GigaDevice up 10%.
The losses in major tech firms came as Beijing’s regulator convened 12 leading platforms involved in online train ticket sales – including Trip.com, Meituan, JD.com, Didi, Tencent and several mapping service providers – in response to public complaints over add-on charges and misleading booking practices, according to state broadcaster CCTV.