Asia-Pacific stocks fall as Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong fall

SINGAPORE – Stocks in Asia-Pacific were down on Friday as investors watched Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong after regulatory concerns resurfaced.

On Friday afternoon in Hong Kong, shares of Chinese technology companies listed in the city fell. Kuaishou plunged 9.1%, Tencent 0.74% and Meituan 1.43%. The larger Hang Seng Tech index fell 2.19%.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index overall fell 0.99%.

Bloomberg News reported that Beijing is considering tough penalties against ride-sharing giant Didi. The planned penalties range from a fine likely higher than the record $ 2.8 billion Alibaba paid earlier this year even from a forced delisting after Didi’s IPO last month.

Didi shares in the United States plunged more than 11% on Thursday. Earlier in July, the company was forced to stop registering new users, and its app was also removed from Chinese app stores due to the alleged collection and use of personal data.

The development came as Beijing continues its months-long crackdown on Chinese tech giants, targeting issues ranging from antitrust to data regulation.

The wider Asia-Pacific markets also declined. In mainland China, the Shanghai composite fell 0.65% while the Shenzhen component lost 1.408%.

Kospi from South Korea has changed little. In Australia, the S & P / ASX 200 slipped 0.11%.

The largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks excluding Japan fell 0.61%.

Markets in Japan are closed on Fridays for a public holiday.

Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.35 points to 34,823.35 while the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4,367.48. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.36% to 14,684.60.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, stood at 92.872, up from the 93 levels seen earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen was trading at 110.24 per dollar, lower than the levels below 109.6 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7733, above the below $ 0.732 levels seen earlier in the trading week.

Oil prices were down in the afternoon of trading hours in Asia, as international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.42% to $ 73.48 a barrel. US crude futures slipped 0.45% to $ 71.59 per barrel.