Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Friday as investors monitored Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong after regulatory concerns resurfaced.
Markets in Japan were closed on Friday for a holiday.
The Japanese yen traded at 110.40 per U.S. dollar, weaker than levels below 109.6 seen against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dumped 401.86 points, or 1.5%, to 27,321.98.
By the Friday market close in Hong Kong, shares of Chinese tech firms listed in the city tumbled. Kuaishou plunged 10.8%, while Tencent slipped 2.4% and Meituan dropped 2.4%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7368, above levels below $0.732 seen earlier in the trading week.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 lost 62.52 points, or 1.2%, to 5,089.23.
Bloomberg News reported that Beijing is considering harsh penalties on ride-hailing giant Didi. The penalties being planned range from a fine likely bigger than the record $2.8 billion U.S. Alibaba paid earlier this year to even a forced delisting after Didi’s IPO last month.
Shares of Didi stateside plunged more than 11% on Thursday. Earlier in July, the firm was forced to stop signing up new users and also had its app removed from Chinese app stores due to alleged collection and use of personal data.
That development came as Beijing continues its months-long crackdown on China’s tech behemoths, targeting issues from anti-trust to data regulation.
In other markets
The Kospi index in Korea inched higher 4.21 points, or 0.1%, to 3,254.42.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index eked up 0.59 points to 17,572.92
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 2.21 points, or 0.1%, to 3,157.05.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 inched forward 15.47 points, or 0.1%, to 12,736.32
In Australia, the ASX 200 picked up 7.95 points, or 0.1%, to 7,394.35