Market Jitters: Hong Kong Drops, China Maintains Course

Hong Kong stocks fell to a seven-week low on Wednesday amid volatile trading, as investors focused on U.S. President-elect Trump's China cabinet picks, impacting investor sentiments. Despite China's CSI 300 index edging up, Hong Kong property developers led declines. Analysts revised China's growth forecasts upwards, providing slight optimism.

Hong Kong's stock market experienced a notable drop on Wednesday, with the Hang Seng benchmark falling to a seven-week low amid volatile trading conditions. The decline came as investors assessed the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's selection of China hawks for key cabinet positions.

Despite the downtrend, China's blue-chip CSI 300 index saw a modest increase of 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite remained relatively steady. Adding to market uncertainty, the Golden Dragon China Index plunged 4.5% in New York trading.

In response, analysts noted that investor sentiment towards China could remain weak in the short term. Meanwhile, property developers led declines in Hong Kong, and analysts at Nomura revised China's growth forecast upward, suggesting an uptick in economic activity.

(With inputs from agencies.)