Hong Kong's $Hang Seng Index(800000.HK)$ opened in the red on Thursday, losing 0.39% in morning trade, following a sluggish session on Wall Street on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated more rate hikes according to the minutes of its policy meeting. However, it did indicate the pace of the hikes could slow.

Shares of $TENCENT(00700.HK)$ gained over 3%, while $BABA-SW(09988.HK)$ lost over 1.8%. 

Macro News: Hong Kong's unemployment rate has fallen to 4.3%, the third consecutive improvement seen in the labor market, reported the South China Morning Post. This is the lowest level since November when Hong Kong registered a figure of 3.9% for the three-month period ending in January, it said.

China is scrambling to improve power shortages and bring more water to the drought-hit basin of the Yangtze river as it fights a record-breaking heatwave by seeding clouds, reported The Guardian. On Wednesday, the central province of Hubei became the latest to introduce an effort to induce rainfall, by sending airplanes to release the chemical silver iodide into the clouds, the report said.

Company News: Tencent has recorded its first-ever revenue decline after its workforce shrank almost 5%. The first-quarter FY22 revenue fell worse than estimated by 3% to 134 billion yuan ($19.8 billion) in the June quarter.

Chinese automobile manufacturer NIO Inc has entered into a collaboration with Henan Transport Investment Expressway Service Area Management Co Ltd to speed up the construction of a battery swap station network in central China, CnEVPost reported.

Global News: U.S. futures were trading in the red during Thursday morning Asia session. The Dow Jones futures were down 0.12% while the Nasdaq futures shed 0.27%. The S&P 500 futures lost 0.17%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's ASX 200 lost 0.46%. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.04% while China's Shanghai Composite index was trading flat. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.63%.