HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks rose in the first few minutes of trade Monday morning, building on last week's gains, following weak US jobs data that could ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to speed up its pace of monetary tightening.

The Hang Seng Index edged up 0.13 percent, or 30.52 points, to 23,523.90.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19 percent, or 6.80 points, to 3,572.74, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange eased 0.28 percent, or 6.81 points, to 2446.01.