Mainland and Hong Kong stocks opened lower on Monday, tracking regional peers as investors grew concerned over the sustainability of the AI rally after strong US jobs data fuelled fears of Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened down 379 points, or 1.52 percent, at 24,582.

The China enterprises index was down 139 points, or 1.66 percent, at 8,296 while the tech index was down 15 points, or 0.31 percent, at 4,959.

Up north, the Shanghai Composite Index opened down 89 points, or 2.2 percent, at 3,938 while the blue-chip CSI300 index opened 113 points, or 2.35 percent, lower at 4,703.

The Shenzhen Component Index was down 479 points, or 3.13 percent, at 14,835 while the ChiNext Index was down 137 points, or 3.48 percent, at 3,820.

The tech rally in China has been driven largely by the chip supply chain, closely mirroring performances in global stocks such as Micron and Nvidia.

Shares of Zhongji Innolight, an Nvidia supplier of optical components and a bellwether for China's AI rally, fell four percent as the market opened.

The company has recently overtaken CATL as the biggest weight in China's CSI300 benchmark.

The tech-focused Star50 Index opened 4.8 percent lower while onshore semiconductor shares slumped more than five percent.

Wall Street's nine-week winning streak ended with a thud on Friday, as red-hot technology stocks suffered their largest daily decline since April 2025 after a hot jobs report fuelled fears of a hawkish policy pivot from the US central bank.

In Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei share average sank by the most in three months to be 2,547 points, or 3.83 percent, down at 64,040 close to noon on the renewed concerns about technology valuations and a flare-up in Middle East hostilities.

In Seoul, the Kospi was 384 points, or 4.71 percent, down at 7,775 at one stage before midday after dropping 8.4 percent to 7,477, triggering a circuit breaker and halting trading for 20 minutes. (Reuters/Xinhua)



Edited by Tony Sabine