Hong Kong shares slip in subdued trade ahead of Powell speech

Hong Kong shares slipped on Wednesday after two sessions of strong gains, but trading activity was muted ahead of the US Federal Reserve symposium on Friday.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 33.97 points or 0.13% at 25,693.95, after climbing more than 3.5% in the previous two sessions. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.25% to 9,076.03.

** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 1.2%, while the IT sector rose 0.21%, the financial sector ended 0.19% lower and the property sector dipped 0.06%.

** About 1.56 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 73.2% of the market's 30-day moving average of 2.13 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 2.05 billion.

** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd , which gained 6.42%, while the biggest loser was ANTA Sports Products Ltd, which fell 6.83%.

** ANTA was also the biggest H-share percentage decliner, followed by Kuaishou Technology, which fell 3.55% and Nongfu Spring Co Ltd, down by 2.96%.

** The top gainers among H-shares were JD.Com Inc up 5%, followed by Shimao Group Holdings Ltd, gaining 3.52% and CITIC Ltd, up by 3.37%.

** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.74% at 3,540.38 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 0.2%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.33%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.03%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.4764 per US dollar at 08:07 UTC, 0.09% weaker than the previous close of 6.4705.