HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Tuesday weighed down by technology stocks, including index heavyweights Tencent and Alibaba, against the backdrop of a possible U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike as soon as March and overhang from China’s regulatory crackdown on the tech sector.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.4% to 24,112.78, while the China Enterprises index lost 0.2% to 8,449.00 points.

The Hang Seng Tech index fell 0.5%, with Tencent Holdings down 2.8% and Alibaba Group Holding off 1.6%.

The Hang Seng Composite index tracking financial stocks was down 0.2% and the Hang Seng Finance index fell 0.3%. Insurer AIA Group Ltd lost 1.1% on Tuesday after Capital Group Cos Inc’s long position in AIA fell to 6.84% from 7.03%. Mainland developers listed in Hong Kong gained 1.8%, as sentiment was lifted by China’s central bank cutting the borrowing costs of its medium-term loans.