Hong Kong stocks fell marginally on Monday to begin the new Chinese year in red territory as fears of a new trade war between China and the US loom.

The Hang Seng Index marginally fell to finish today's session at 20,217.26. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, on the other hand, saw a minor increase at 7,384.11.

A trade war seems imminent as the Trump-led US government's plans to impose a 10% duty on Chinese goods are expected to become effective Tuesday, an SCMP report citing the White House said.

China's Commerce Ministry has claimed it will retaliate by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the levy of the duties without providing any details, according to the report.

However, investors are clinging to the hope of some relief for the struggling economy in the form of new stimulus measures to potentially be announced at China's annual legislative meeting in March.

In corporate news, Alibaba Group's (HKG:9988) shares soared over 6% after Fortune magazine crowned it with the third position in the internet service and retailing category in its list of the world's most admired companies in 2025.

Just last week, Alibaba launched a new artificial intelligence model, Qwen2.5-Max, which it claims is better than DeepSeek.

Meanwhile, Chinese chipmakers Semiconductor Manufacturing International (HKG:0981, SHA:688981) and Solomon Systech (HKG:2878) rose over 10% and 3% respectively, on Monday.

The rise was seen amid expectations that US tariffs on chips could lead to a boost in the demand for local products and an increased focus on independence in the semiconductor industry, according to a report by The Standard.