HK bounces back as regionals continue to weaken

Mainland stocks extended losses on Friday, tracking broad weakness across global markets, as a selloff in tech shares on Wall Street weighed on investor sentiment. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rebounded back above 23,000 to open up 93 points, or 0.41 percent, at 23,027. The China Enterprises Index was 55 points, or 0.72 percent, higher at 7,744 while the tech index moved 19 points, or 0.51 percent, up to 3,813. Further north, the Shanghai Composite Index opened down 34 points, or 0.94 percent, at 3,623 while the blue-chip CSI300 index lost 1.1 percent. Both key mainland indicess added to losses from the previous session, when the CSI300 posted its lowest close since July 2025 and the Shanghai benchmark ended at its weakest level in more than a year. The CSI300 index is now down more than 20 percent from its most recent closing peak on June 22, meeting some definitions for confirmation of a "bear market". By the most widely accepted definition of the term, it has been in one ever since a 2007 closing-level high. "Three converging forces: a deepening selloff in AI-related technology stocks, escalating Middle East tensions following deadly attacks on Saudi Aramco infrastructure, and intensifying stress in French sovereign...