Hong Kong stocks weakened on Thursday, signaling sluggish "golden week" holiday shopping in mainland China. The Hang Seng Index fell 1.1% to 26,521.75 as of 9:55 a.m. local time, while Hang Seng Tech shed 0.6%. On the mainland, markets reopened with the CSI 300 up 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite up 0.2%. The main highlight came from Hang Seng Bank, which surged 27% to HK$150.60—having soared as high as 41% earlier in the session—following HSBC's proposal to privatize the bank at HK$155 per share (a 30.3% premium).

Among other movers, ZTO Express rose 1.9%, Li Auto +1.4%, Trip.com +1.2%, and Pop Mart +1.0%. Gains were limited by declines in HSBC (-6.3%), SMIC (-2.8%), NetEase (-1.6%), Alibaba (-1.3%), and Meituan (-0.9%). Preliminary data showed retail and catering sales at large mainland companies rose only 3.3% year-on-year in the first four days of the holiday—slower than the 6.3% growth seen during the May holiday and below September's 3.4% retail growth. Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%, while South Korea's stock exchanges were closed for a holiday. (az)

Source: Newsmaker.id