Middle East geopolitical conflicts disrupt Hong Kong stocks, with the technology index falling over 2% and temporarily losing the 5000-point mark

Cailian Press, March 2 (Editor: Hu Jiarong)
Affected by the sudden geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, Hong Kong stock market risk appetite has significantly cooled, with all three major indices retreating.

At midday, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.59% to 26,205.98 points; the Tech Index dropped 2.12% to 5,028.99 points; and the H-shares Index declined 1.38% to 8,737.45 points.

Notably, the Tech Index briefly fell below the 5,000-point mark in the morning session, but has since rebounded to around 5,031 points. During the same period, constituent stocks all experienced sharp declines, with SenseTime-W (00020.HK), Xiaomi Group-W (01810.HK), and Sunny Optical Technology (02382.HK) each falling over 4%.

Specifically, energy supply chain concerns pushed oil stocks higher, while high-valuation tech stocks such as AI and SaaS faced significant selling pressure, leading to notable sectoral divergence.

Geopolitical risk premium drives strong rally, Shandong Mengtong surges over 60%

At midday, BAKKEN Petroleum Services (02178.HK) rose 77.46%, Shandong Mengtong (00568.HK) surged 66.28%, and Sinopec Oilfield Service (01033.HK) increased 20%.

According to official media reports, on March 1 local time, Iran announced that Supreme Leader Khamenei was martyred during the joint US-Israel attack on February 28, with several senior officials including the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Defense also killed. The incident quickly drew international attention and became a direct catalyst for energy market volatility.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced on the evening of February 28 that ships were prohibited from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. On March 1, a tanker violating this order was attacked and sank; on the same day, the 8th official notice confirmed that three US- and UK-flagged oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and strait area were missile-attacked. Iranian media stated that the strait has been “effectively closed,” and MarineTraffic vessel tracking data shows a significant decline in large commercial ships passing through, with westbound routes into the Gulf nearly coming to a halt.

Meanwhile, the Houthi armed group, closely linked to Iran, has announced the resumption of attacks on ships in the Red Sea route, further exacerbating regional energy transportation risks.

Risk appetite declines, industry concerns lead to AI sector correction, SenseTime drops over 8%

At midday, Duodian Digital (02586.HK) fell 9.93%, SenseTime-W (00020.HK) dropped 8.20%, and Maifu Times (02556.HK) declined 6.68%.

In terms of news, geopolitical conflicts have triggered capital withdrawal from high-valuation growth sectors. Additionally, concerns about the pace of AI commercialization and potential economic impacts have intensified. Product launches by Anthropic have caused volatility in the software sector, while Citrini Research’s warning report on the labor market has added to market sentiment disturbances, even as Nvidia’s better-than-expected earnings report failed to effectively restore confidence.