Hong Kong Hang Seng Inches Up as Tech Rally Stalls

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index inched up 0.1% on Wednesday as traders balked again at the exchange's tech offerings, after Tuesday large gains. E-commerce colossus Alibaba BABA declined 4.7% after near 12% gain on Tuesday, and Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media outfit, declined 7.2% in its initial day of trading in Hong Kong. Property issues slipped as well.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 13.21 to 23,996.87 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 32 to 29. The Hang Seng TECH Index was flat, and the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.3% despite recent easing by the People's Bank of China.

Leading the upside were garment-maker Li Ning 2331, up 5.4%, followed by Wuxi Biologics 2269, up 5.0%, and then Macau gaming-house Sands China 1928, up 4.6%.

On the downside were Alibaba, and then Alibaba Health Information Technology 241, off 2.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.2% to 3,637.57.