{"id":59007,"date":"2026-02-23T23:08:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T03:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/asia-markets-diverge-hong-kong-tech-slumps-on-ai-fears-while-mainland-rallies-for-year-of-the-horse\/59007\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T23:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T03:08:34","slug":"asia-markets-diverge-hong-kong-tech-slumps-on-ai-fears-while-mainland-rallies-for-year-of-the-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/asia-markets-diverge-hong-kong-tech-slumps-on-ai-fears-while-mainland-rallies-for-year-of-the-horse\/59007\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Markets Diverge: Hong Kong Tech Slumps on AI Fears While Mainland Rallies for Year of the Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng Index fell 0.6% to 26,913.68<\/strong> as tech heavyweights retreated due to renewed global concerns regarding the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence on employment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mainland Chinese markets surged<\/strong> on the first trading day of the <strong>Year of the Horse<\/strong>, with the <strong>CSI 300 Index gaining 1.4%<\/strong> and the <strong>Shanghai Composite Index jumping 1.2%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Korea lodged a formal protest<\/strong> with <strong>US Forces Korea (USFK)<\/strong> following a tense aerial standoff between American F-16s and Chinese fighter jets over the Yellow Sea.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major tech firms saw significant losses<\/strong>, including Baidu (<a href=\"\/stock\/BIDU\">BIDU<\/a>), which fell 1.6%, and Alibaba Group Holding (<a href=\"\/stock\/BABA\">BABA<\/a>), which dropped 1.5%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geopolitical friction is intensifying<\/strong> as Seoul signals growing reluctance to allow US military assets stationed in South Korea to be used for direct confrontation with China.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Hong Kong Tech Retreats on AI Disruption Fears<\/h2>\n<p>Hong Kong stocks faced downward pressure on Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as investors grew wary of the rapid pace of artificial intelligence development. Sentiment was dampened by a viral research report suggesting that <strong>AI advances could significantly disrupt white-collar employment<\/strong>, leading to a broad sell-off in the tech sector.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Hang Seng Tech Index slid 1%<\/strong>, led by losses in major internet and semiconductor firms. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/0981.HK\">0981.HK<\/a>) fell <strong>1.7% to HK$69.90<\/strong>, while search giant Baidu (<a href=\"\/stock\/BIDU\">BIDU<\/a>) and e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding (<a href=\"\/stock\/BABA\">BABA<\/a>) both saw declines of approximately <strong>1.5%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the tech slump, some blue-chip stocks managed to limit the index&#39;s losses. Insurance giant AIA Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/1299.HK\">1299.HK<\/a>) rose <strong>1.5%<\/strong>, and power-tool manufacturer Techtronic Industries (<a href=\"\/stock\/0669.HK\">0669.HK<\/a>) also gained <strong>1.5%<\/strong>, reflecting a rotation into more traditional industrial and financial sectors.<\/p>\n<h2>Mainland Markets Welcome the Year of the Horse<\/h2>\n<p>In contrast to the gloom in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese markets opened the <strong>Year of the Horse<\/strong> with robust gains. The <strong>CSI 300 Index<\/strong>, which tracks the largest stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen, rose <strong>1.4%<\/strong>, buoyed by domestic optimism and holiday consumption data.<\/p>\n<p>Energy and mining stocks were among the top performers on the mainland. PetroChina (<a href=\"\/stock\/0857.HK\">0857.HK<\/a>) added <strong>1.5%<\/strong>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold-price.aspx\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">gold<\/a> producer Zijin Mining (<a href=\"\/stock\/2899.HK\">2899.HK<\/a>) advanced <strong>0.8%<\/strong>. <em>Analysts suggest that the mainland rally reflects a decoupling from global tech anxieties as investors focus on domestic policy support and economic recovery.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Seoul Protests US-China Aerial Standoff<\/h2>\n<p>Geopolitical tensions added a layer of caution to regional sentiment following reports of a rare military standoff. South Korean Defense Minister <strong>Ahn Gyu-back<\/strong> reportedly lodged a complaint with General <strong>Xavier Brunson<\/strong>, commander of <strong>US Forces Korea<\/strong>, after 10 US F-16 fighters engaged in a brief face-off with Chinese jets over the Yellow Sea.<\/p>\n<p>The protest highlights Seoul\u2019s delicate balancing act between its security alliance with the US and its economic ties with China. <em>Military analysts believe the move signals South Korea&#39;s reluctance to see USFK&#39;s role pivot away from North Korean deterrence toward active containment of Beijing.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The incident involved US jets taking off from <strong>Osan Air Base<\/strong> and approaching China\u2019s air defense identification zone. While the encounter remained non-kinetic, the lack of detailed prior notification to Seoul has sparked concerns about <strong>&quot;strategic flexibility&quot;<\/strong> and the potential for regional instability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng Index fell 0.6% to 26,913.68 as tech heavyweights retreated due to renewed global concerns [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[17587,36,17588,3703,3743,4824,5169,9323,10884,17185,17426],"class_list":["post-59007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-chinamarkets","tag-bidu","tag-southkorea","tag-ai","tag-baba","tag-geopolitics","tag-hsi","tag-csi300","tag-smic","tag-hongkongstocks","tag-usfk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}