Hong Kong stocks fell, set for the biggest weekly loss in almost two months, as investors fret about the strength of China’s economic recovery amid weak consumption at home and heightened tensions in US-China trade ties.

The Hang Seng Index fell 0.9% to 19,067.51 at 2.10pm, bringing the losses to 3.5% from Monday, the steepest weekly decline since November 15. The Tech Index also dropped 1.1%.

Sportswear maker Li Ning tumbled 5% and China Life Insurance lost 4.5%, while Alibaba Group slipped 1%. PC maker Lenovo Group weakened 4.5%.

In terms of other star stocks, SMIC rose 4%; NetEase rose 1%; Tencent fell 0.6%; XPeng, Alibaba, and NIO fell 1%; JD.com, Baidu, and BYD fell 2%; Meituan fell 3%; Bilibili fell 4%.

Hong Kong’s stock market has lost U$118 billion in capitalisation this week, with Tencent, shipper Orient Overseas and car dealer Zhongsheng Group suffering more than a 9 per cent sell-off. In China, the central bank said on Friday it would refrain from buying more government bonds, a move seen as an attempt to stem the yuan depreciation.

The US added some of the nation’s biggest companies including Tencent and EV battery maker Contemporary Amperex to a blacklist for alleged ties to the Chinese military, triggering a sell-off. China’s deflation persisted in December, hampering Beijing’s efforts to lift spending to revive growth.

A strong US labour market has prompted traders to push back on rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, souring appetite for stocks. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to moderate, according to economists’ forecast before a government report later today may show.

Two companies debuted on Friday. Toymaker Bloks Group surged 49% in Hong Kong while Numans Health Food Holdings slumped 15%.