-- Hong Kong stocks closed lower Thursday as optimism over the Middle East ceasefire faded and signs emerged that the temporary truce between the U.S. and Iran was fraying.
The Hang Seng Index fell by around 140.62 points, or roughly 0.5%, to end at 25,752.40, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index decreased by 65.48 points, or around 0.8%, to close at 8,611.83.
Iran accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement Tehran reached with the U.S. earlier this week after Tel Aviv bombed targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel said the air strikes hit more than 100 Hezbollah command centers and military sites in 10 minutes.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is set to lead a delegation to Islamabad to formalize a peace deal with Iran. The country's parliament speaker Mohammed Bager Qalibaf said a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations were "unreasonable" amid Israeli hostilities.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's private sector firms saw a renewed deterioration in operating conditions in March amid declines in output and total new business, S&P Global said in a monthly report.
The reduction came following a historically strong five-month expansion period. Panelists said the Middle East conflict lowered sales amid a dampened consumer confidence and spending, as well as stock market performance.
In corporate news, two firms filed to go public in Hong Kong.
Chinese cloud-native spatial design software provider Manycore Tech (HKG:0068) is looking to raise up to HK$1.22 billion via the sale of 160.6 million shares at an indicative price range of HK$6.72 to HK$7.62 per share.
Net proceeds will be used mainly to support international expansion, including building global sales teams and strengthening marketing across key overseas markets.
Meanwhile, Gpixel Changchun Microelectronics (HKG:3277) is seeking to raise about HK$2.60 billion via the sale of offering 65.3 million H-shares at an indicative price of HK$39.88 per share.
Net proceeds will be used primarily to fund research and development, including investments in next-generation CMOS image sensor technologies.