The Hong Kong stock market fell by 92 points or 0.4% to 21,434 during Tuesday morning trading, marking its first drop in four sessions amid cautious sentiment following President Trump's announcement of a global 25% tariff on US imports of steel and aluminum, set to take effect on March 4. Markets retreated from their highest since early October, as traders adopted a vigilant stance ahead of this week's key US inflation data and Fed Chair Powell's testimony before Congress. Most sectors dropped, with tech, property, and consumers slipping the most. Further losses were capped by optimism around China's AI sector. Meantime, Trump said in an interview he had spoken to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since taking office on January, 20 but did not offer details on when exactly the call happened. Early laggards included EV shares such as Geely Auto (-9.0%) and Li Auto (-5.4%). Health stocks also dipped, including JD Health Intl. (-5.0%), Hansoh Pharmaceutical (-3.7%), and Wuxi Biologics (-2.1%).
The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.4% to around 3,310, while the Shenzhen Component fell 1% to 10,525 on Tuesday, as mainland stocks reversed a three-day rally. Investors weighed the potential impact of the latest tariffs imposed by the US. President Donald Trump enacted 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, with no exceptions or exemptions, indirectly affecting China. The pullback also followed profit-taking after a strong rally fueled by growing optimism about breakthroughs in artificial intelligence in China, particularly with companies adopting DeepSeek's open-source model into their operations. Notable losses were seen among major companies, including BYD Company (-0.8%), East Money Information (-2.2%), iSoftStone (-6.1%), Dawning Information (-2.2%), and Jiangsu Hoperun (-3.1%).(Cay) Newsmaker23

Source: Trading Economi