Hong Kong stocks hit 2-week low as Alibaba tumbles 2.9% on ex-CEO surprise exit, China deflation concerns

Hong Kong stocks fell to a two-week low, led by losses in Alibaba Group after former chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang Yong surprisingly departed from the e-commerce group amid a leadership transition.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 1.3% to 17,960.86 as of 9.54am local time from the level on Thursday. Local financial markets were closed on Friday because of bad weather warning. The Tech Index dropped 1.8% while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4%.

Alibaba Group dropped 2.9% to HK$88.20 and Tencent slipped 0.4% to HK$320 while JD.com fell 3.1% to HK$124.60. Chinese property developers Longfor Group tumbled 4.8% to HK$16.58 and peer Chinese Overseas Land and Investment lost 2.7% to HK$16.72.

Daniel Zhang…