China Stocks Follow U.S. Peers Downward

Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks each posted a solid drop Monday morning, after U.S. stocks suffered heavy losses Friday last week. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.8%, looking likely to extend a five-day losing streak. Over on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index declined 1%, poised to fall for a third session in a row. Among the top-weighted stocks in Hong Kong, Sino-British banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC lost 1.7%, telecoms giant China Mobile Ltd. shed 1.3%, and life insurer AIA Group moved down 0.9%. Mainland China property shares recorded broad declines as well, with Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Ltd. sliding 2.7%, Sunac China Holdings Ltd. falling 2.4%, Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. down 1.6%, Hang Seng Index component China Resources Land Ltd. off 1.5%, and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. , also on the benchmark index, lower by 1.1%. Hong Kong developers were also weaker, as Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. led the losses with a 1.4% fall. However, Chinese online-services major Tencent Holdings Ltd. bucked the weaker trend to rise 0.8%. Several other tech stocks also strengthened, as Kingdee International Software Group advanced 3.1%, and online game developer NetDragon Websoft Inc. gained 0.5%. Data out over the weekend showing a sharp rebound for Chinese exports last month seemed to have little obvious impact on the early trading.