SHANGHAI, April 4 (Reuters) – Hong Kong shares fell on
Tuesday, led by technology stocks, as elevated Sino-U.S.
tensions dented investor sentiment. China shares were mixed as
sustained strength in artificial intelligence-related stocks
countered weakness elsewhere.

** China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index was little
changed by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index
gained 0.2%.

** Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index was down
0.6%, and the China Enterprises Index lost 1.0%.

** China warned U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday
not to “repeat disastrous past mistakes” and meet Taiwan
President Tsai Ing-wen, who is visiting the United States.

** Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said
on Monday it could not confirm reports that China was able to
collect real-time data from a spy balloon as it flew over
sensitive military sites earlier this year, saying analysis was
still ongoing.

** Tech stocks in Hong Kong slumped 1.6%, with
Alibaba and Meituan down 3.2% and 4.1%,
respectively.

** Shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers traded in Hong
Kong also plunged, following a drop in Tesla shares in
the United States. Shares of Nio and XPeng
declined 8.5% and 5.4%, respectively.

** In China, sectoral performances were mixed. Shares of
state-owned enterprises and semiconductor companies lent some
support to the market, while new energy-related sectors gave up
some of their earlier gains.

** The China CSI AI Index jumped 3.6% to a
14-month high.

** Shares of China Railway Group Ltd and China
Communications Construction Co Ltd rose 9.5% and
6.5%, respectively.

** Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp
rallied 5.0% to its highest in more than a year.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)