Hong Kong shares marked their biggest daily drop in six weeks on Monday, as investors braced for an escalation in US-China tensions and the release of the city's economic growth data.

The Hang Seng Index ended 4.2% lower at 23,613.80, its biggest percentage fall since March 23, trading at near two-week lows for much of the session. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 4.4%.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dropped 6.8%, the IT sector fell 3.6%, the financial sector lost almost 4% and the property sector was down 4.2%.

Hong Kong stocks took much of the heat on Monday with Mainland China's markets closed for a public holiday until Wednesday. The offshore yuan weakened to a six-week low in early trade, extending Friday's fall.

About 2.56 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.65 billion.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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