Hong Kong stocks fall after Wall Street tech rout

Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Wednesday, dragged down by tech shares following a tech rout on the Wall Street.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 155.41 points or 0.63% at 24,468.93. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.04% to 9,728.52.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares slipped 1.5%, while the IT sector slid 1.61%, the financial sector ended 0.66% lower and the property sector dipped 0.13%.

The top gainer in the Hang Seng was Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd, which gained 2.5%, while the biggest loser was China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, which fell 3.99%.

Tech shares led the declines. The Hang Seng tech index lost 1.5%, down for fifth session in a row.

The Hang Seng index faced pressure as investors sold tech firms amid a U.S. selloff and persistent Sino-U.S. tensions, KGI Securities noted in report, adding the index could find support at 24,000 points.

The brokerage noted limited room for a further rally in China’s domestic banks listed in Hong Kong given the heavy pressure from bad loans in coming quarters.

On the mainland, China stocks dropped the most in six weeks on Wednesday.

The major concerns are lofty valuations and the uncertainties around Sino-U.S. tensions, said Luo Kun, director of macro strategy center at Chasing Securities.

Any major corrections in U.S. stock market, where there is a relative big tech bubble following stellar gains, would also put pressure on China’s start-up firms and wider tech players, Luo said.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.33%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 1.04%.

The yuan was quoted at 6.8456 per U.S. dollar at 08:25 GMT, 0.02% firmer than the previous close of 6.847.