Shares in Hong Kong Extend Weakness on Trade, Fed Jitters

Hong Kong stocks fell for the second session, down 46 points or 0.2% to 25,469 on Wednesday morning, after U.S.-China trade talks ended without a meaningful breakthrough. While extending the current tariff truce remains possible, Treasury Secretary Bessent said President Trump will have the final say. Caution also prevailed ahead of the Fed’s rate decision later today, with analysts noting most Fed officials prefer to wait and assess the inflationary impact of tariffs before acting, especially with Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline looming. Tech shares led the fall, followed by consumers and property, as traders awaited official and private PMI data for July in China. Losses were offset by further gains in mainland stocks, helped by Beijing’s rollout of a national childcare subsidy aimed at lifting the country’s birth rate, just ahead of the key Politburo meeting later this month. Among early laggards were Li Auto (-10.5%), SMIC (-3.7%), Techtronic Inds. (-3.0%), and Pop Mart (-2.8%).