HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares started Thursday morning on the back foot as tech firms took a hit from concerns the United States is planning to impose fresh sanctions on a range of Chinese firms and was looking at adding some to a blacklist.

The Hang Seng Index dipped 0.57 percent, or 132.83 points, to 23,287.93.

The Shanghai Composite Index was marginally higher, inching up 1.30 points to 3,648.93, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange edged up 0.10 percent, or 2.66 points, to 2,546.15.