Mainland and Hong Kong stocks saw mixed openings on Friday with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 163 points, or 0.64 percent, to 25,337.

The China enterprises index was down 71 points, or 0.8 percent, to 8,624 while the tech index was 48 points, or nearly one percent, lower at 4,948.

The retreat came as five mainland companies launched Hong Kong share sales that sought ⁠to raise up to HK$5.3 billion in total.

All five companies that launched their IPOs on Friday are incorporated ⁠in China, according to their prospectuses, and none is using a red-chip structure whereby mainland entities incorporate an offshore holding company and inject domestic assets into it prior to a listing on a bourse outside of China.

The ⁠largest deal is from Epiworld ⁠International, a Xiamen-based semiconductor materials player focused on silicon carbide epitaxial wafers for power devices in electric vehicles and renewable energy.

The company aims to raise HK$1.64 billion through the offering ⁠of 21.5 million H shares priced at HK$76.26 each, according to its filing.

Guangdong Huayan Robotics, a maker of collaborative robots used in industrial automation and healthcare, aims to raise HK$1.37 billion by offering 80.8 million H shares at HK$17 each, according to an exchange filing.

The remaining offerings span artificial intelligence, biotechnology and healthcare.

They ⁠include AI computer-vision firm Shandong Extreme Vision Technology, Hangzhou Diagens Biotechnology and healthcare-services provider Beijing Tong Ren Tang Healthcare Investment.

Shares in all five companies are scheduled to begin trading on March 30, according to their filings.

The flurry of launches, despite a darkening global economic picture due to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran as well as retaliatory measures taken by Iran, builds on a buoyant start to 2026 for Hong Kong's listings market, which has recorded its strongest start to a year since 2021.

Hong Kong's IPO market saw issuers raising about US$11.64 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 385 percent from about US$2.4 billion ⁠a year earlier, according to LSEG data as of March 18.

Second listings accounted for most of that increase, raising about US$7.98 billion across 13 deals, while IPOs raised about US$3.66 billion from 14 transactions, the data showed.

Fuelled by mainland Chinese share sales, Hong Kong ranked as the world's top listing venue in 2025, with total equity capital market fundraising jumping 164 percent to US$103 billion, according to exchange data.

Last week, Hong Kong's stock exchange proposed lowering market value thresholds for companies seeking ⁠dual-class share structures in a bid to make listing more attractive in the city.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index opened down almost two points, or 0.05 percent, at 4,004.

The Shenzhen Component Index was up close to 120 points, or 0.86 percent, at 14,021.


Edited by Tony Sabine