Hong Kong stocks fall as Sino-US tensions weigh

SHANGHAI, April 4 (Reuters) – Hong Kong shares fell on Tuesday, led by technology stocks, as elevated Sino-US tensions dented sentiment.

In China, shares rose as a sustained strength in artificial intelligence-related stocks and state-owned enterprises stocks countered weakness elsewhere.

** China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC gained 0.5%.

** Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 0.7%, and the China Enterprises Index lost 0.9%.

** China warned US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday not to “repeat disastrous past mistakes” and meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who is visiting the United States.

** Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday it could not confirm reports that China was able to collect real-time data from a spy balloon as it flew over sensitive military sites earlier this year, saying analysis was still ongoing.

** Tech stocks in Hong Kong slumped 1.6%, with Alibaba and Meituan down 3.0% and 4.4%, respectively.

** Shares of Chinese electric-vehicle makers traded in Hong Kong also plunged, following a drop in Tesla shares in the United States. Shares of Nio and XPeng declined 7.6% and 6.5%, respectively.

** In China, shares of state-owned enterprises and semiconductor companies lent some support to the market, while new energy-related sectors gave up some of their earlier gains.

** The China CSI AI Index  jumped 2.5% to a 14-month high.

** Shares of China Railway Group Ltd and China Communications Construction Co Ltd rose to a maximum 10.0% and 9.3%, respectively.

** Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp rallied 3.8% to its highest in more than a year.

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)