Hang Seng Index is leading Asia stock markets in loss this afternoon, pressured by the plummet in Netease and Tencent in the tech index on new China online gaming guidelines.
The Hang Seng Index dropped 1.63% to 16,350.18 points, while the tech index plunged 4.5% to the lowest level since November 2022.
The share price of Tencent and NetEase fell sharply in the afternoon session on Friday by 15% and 28%, respectively, to their lowest level in about a year after the release of draft guidelines by the Chinese government aimed at curbing incentives that could lead to excessive gaming and spending.
Meanwhile, mainland China’s SSEC fell 0.39%, Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.02%, Australia’s ASX200 dipped 0.03%. Thailand’s SET Index slipped 0.31%. Japan’s Nikkei is the only major index that remained in a positive territory following optimism in the market on the central bank exiting negative policy rates soon.
