Hong Kong shares on Friday fell to a fresh one-year low while mainland stocks also tumbled, dragged down by AI-related plays and logging their largest daily loss in three months.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 405 points, or 1.76 percent, down at 22,671 on turnover of HK$342.1 billion, putting its loss for the week its worse since April 2025, at 5.2 percent.

The tech index was 150 points, or 3.41 percent, lower at 4,255, bringing its loss for the week to 7.6 percent.

The China enterprises index was 147 points, or 1.94 percent, down at 7,460.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 93 points, or 2.26 percent, at 4,027.

The Shenzhen Component Index was 561 points, or 3.44 percent, lower at 15,782 while the ChiNext was 177 points, or 4.07 percent, down at 4,194.

China's CSI Artificial Intelligence Index fell 4.6 percent while the CSI 5G Communication Index tumbled 5.8 percent.

Zhongji Innolight, the world's leading optical module maker, slumped 5.3 percent.

China's onshore market has recently shown a K-shaped divergence, with hardware technology stocks rising, while most other sectors, including traditional liquor and financial heavyweights, have declined.

Non-ferrous metal shares fell 4.4 percent while liquor stocks dropped 3.1 percent.

Meng Lei, China equity strategist at UBS, said he expects earnings growth for all onshore shares to accelerate to 11 percent this year from 3.9 percent last year, with first-quarter results showing that earnings are recovering at a faster pace.

Over the medium term, he said, the rollout of more supportive policies, progress in tackling excessive competition, and a rising share of overseas revenue would all help boost profit margins.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi dropped as much as 9 percent and the Nasdaq declined overnight, after investors took profit following a sharp rally in global chips and AI supply chain stocks.

The Kospi ended 519 points, or 5.81 percent, at 8,411 to cap five wildly fluctuating trading sessions that saw the benchmark record its biggest weekly fall in more than three months.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei plunged 3,005 points, or 4.15 percent, to end the day at 79,360, erasing most of the gains from the previous session, as tech investor SoftBank Group tumbled more than 12 percent after a report of a delay in OpenAI's initial public offering.

The 225-share index is down 2.65 percent for the week. The broader Topix was 53 points, or 1.32 percent, lower at 3,963 for the day and 2 percent down for the week. (Reuters & Xinhua)



Edited by Edmond Fong