Hong Kong shares slip on profit-taking in energy, tech stocks

BEIJING: Hong Kong shares ended lower on Wednesday as investors booked gains in energy and technology stocks after a recent rally, while a delay in Sino-US trade talks weighed on sentiment.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 188.47 points, or 0.74pc, at 25,178.91.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.08pc to 10,313.31.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.5pc, while the IT sector fell 0.44pc, the financial sector ended 0.43pc lower and the property sector eased 0.17pc.

China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, which was down 7.66pc, led losses in H-shares. Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd fell 6.86pc and Hengan International Group Company Ltd was down by 5.42pc.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said no new high-level talks, related to the trade agreement, have been scheduled between the United States and China.

Trading in Hong Kong's securities market, including Stock Connect trading and derivatives, was resumed at 1.30 p.m. (0530 GMT) after a typhoon warning forced cancellation of the morning session, the exchange said.

China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 1.24pc at 3,408.13 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 1.5pc.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.42pc, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.26pc.

The yuan was quoted at 6.9168 per US dollar at 08:09 GMT, 0.08pc firmer than the previous close of 6.9222.