Hong Kong stocks extended losses in afternoon after data showed borrowing in mainland China slowed in October and investor confidence remained subdued following Beijing’s latest policy announcements. The Hang Seng Index dropped below 20,000, hitting six-week low.
The Hang Seng Index fell 2.3 per cent to 19,955.39 at 1.10pm on Tuesday, while the Tech Index dropped 2.9 per cent.
In terms of star stocks, Meituan fell 6%; NIO fell 5%; JD.com and Li Auto fell 4%; XPeng, Baidu, Alibaba, SMCI, and Xiaomo fell 3%; Tencent fell 2%.
Auto stocks defied the trend with an impressive performance. Auto sales and production in China rose in October on the back of pro-growth policy measures, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Dongfeng Group rose 13%; GAC Group rose 8%; BAIC Motor rose 4%; GWMOTOR rose 1%.
China's passenger vehicle sales jumped 11.2% in October year-on-year, the second straight monthly rise and the fastest growth since January, led by domestic champion BYD as automakers raced to meet annual sales targets.
Sales in the world's largest auto market totalled 2.28 million vehicles last month and increased 3% to 17.99 million for the first 10 months of the year, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Friday.
October's growth was the highest since January's 57.1% gain.
Electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid sales grew by 56.7% from the prior year and made up 52.5% of overall sales, marking the fourth consecutive month that battery-powered cars including plug-ins outsold gasoline cars in the country.