Hong Kong stocks fell to a three-week closing low on Wednesday, with investor sentiment dampened by the political crisis in Italy and renewed fears over a Sino-US trade war. The Hang Seng index fell 1.4 percent, to 30,056.79, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.6 percent, to 11,769.16 points. Investors fear that repeat elections in Italy - which could come as soon as July - may become a de-facto referendum on Italian membership of the currency bloc and the country's role in the European Union.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.6 percent, while the IT sector declined 1.54 percent, the financial sector was 1.52 percent lower and the property sector fell 1.3 percent. The top gainer on Hang Seng was CNOOC Ltd, up 0.78 percent, while the biggest loser was WH Group Ltd, which was down 3.11 percent.
As of the previous trading session, the Hang Seng index was up 1.89 percent this year, while China's H-share index was up 2.1 percent. As of the previous close, the Hang Seng has declined 1.05 percent this month. The top gainers among H-shares were Postal Savings Bank of China Co Ltd up 1.14 percent, followed by CNOOC Ltd gaining 0.78 percent and ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd up by 0.2 percent. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Haitong Securities Co Ltd, which was down 2.66 percent, Sinopharm Group Co Ltd, which fell 2.6 percent, and GF Securities Co Ltd, down by 2.6 percent.