Hong Kong stocks fell on Tuesday by 1.64 pct

Hong Kong stocks fell on Tuesday tracking weak global peers, while signs of weakness in China's manufacturing sector also hurt sentiment.

Resuming trade after a public holiday on Monday, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 1.64 per cent at 27,333.71, while the Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.73 per cent at 10,827.7.

Growth in China's manufacturing sector sputtered in September as both external and domestic demand weakened, two surveys showed on Sunday. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.02 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.42 per cent.

The top gainers among H-shares were People's Insurance Group of China Co Ltd, up 3.98 per cent, followed by CNOOC Ltd, up 1.55 per cent and China Telecom Corp Ltd, up 1.54 per cent.

The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Gas Holdings Ltd, down 8.58 per cent, Air China Ltd, down 6.2 per cent and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd, down 5.4 per cent.

MGM China led the slide in gaming stocks after the Chinese territory of Macau posted a slightly slower-than-estimated growth in gambling revenues in September

The sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares rose 0.6 per cent while the IT sector fell 1.3 per cent.

The top gainer on Hang Seng was CNOOC Ltd, up 1.55 per cent, while the biggest loser was Swire Pacific Ltd, down 3.56 per cent.

(With inputs from agencies.)