Hong Kong (AFP) – Shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent plummeted by more than seven percent on Thursday, amid a sell-off in the Hong Kong stock market driven by a US stock market rout.
Shenzhen-based Tencent — one of the largest tech firms in China and famous for its Wechat social media platform — has been battling a series of bad news this year, including a regulatory crackdown on online games.
Thursday’s dive was the tenth consecutive day of losses, and shares have tumbled more than 40 percent since January.
Tencent shares fell HK$21.2 to HK$265.2 (US$33.8) in Thursday morning trading, the lowest price since the group listed in Hong Kong in 2004.
In August, the tech giant reported a rare quarterly drop in net income amid the regulatory squeeze — the first drop in profit in at least a decade.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg said the group had lost its slot as one of the world’s top 10 biggest companies, after losing $200 billion in market value this year.
Tencent’s place in the list was replaced by Exxon Mobil.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped more than four percent at the opening Thursday following the worst session on Wall Street for months, as US traders fretted about surging interest rates.
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