Hong Kong stocks post fourth straight weekly drop as Sino-U.S. tensions weigh

Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Friday and posted a fourth straight weekly drop, after the Trump administration unveiled a plan to ban U.S. transactions with ByteDance's TikTok and Tencent-owned WeChat. ** At the close, the Hang Seng index fell 1.6% to 24,531.62, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.4% to 10,063.43.

Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Friday and posted a fourth straight weekly drop, after the Trump administration unveiled a plan to ban U.S. transactions with ByteDance's TikTok and Tencent-owned WeChat.

** At the close, the Hang Seng index fell 1.6% to 24,531.62, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.4% to 10,063.43. ** For the week, HSI shed 0.3%, its fourth weekly fall in a row, while HSCE firmed by 0.2%.

** U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China's ByteDance, the owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent 0700.HK, the operator of WeChat, starting in 45 days. ** China firmly opposes the executive orders and will defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing.

** Adding to pressure, Trump administration officials have also urged the president to delist Chinese companies that trade on U.S. exchanges and fail to meet U.S. auditing requirements by January 2022. ** Tech players led the losses, with the newly-launched Hang Seng tech index ending down 2.5%.

** Chinese tech giant Tencent's shares tumbled as much as 10.1%, following the U.S. ban but pared some losses to close 5% lower. ** However, investors found some relief in more signs of recovery in the world's second-largest economy and Beijing's continued policy support.

** China's economy appeared to be gathering pace in July as exports rose the most this year while some raw material imports hit record highs, adding to hopes for a more sustained recovery. ** China's central bank said on Thursday it would make its prudent monetary policy more flexible and targeted, and keep liquidity appropriately ample to support economic recovery.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)