Hong Kong's main Hang Seng index closed at two-week low on Tuesday

Hong Kong's main Hang Seng index closed at a two-week low on Tuesday, dragged by financial and property stocks, while China's H-shares index fell most in more than three months amid signs of weakness in China's manufacturing sector. ** Traders said U.S. President saying it was "too soon" for Washington to talk to Beijing about working out a deal on trade also dampened appetite for taking the risk.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 662.14 points, or 2.38 per cent, at 27,126.38. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 2.39 per cent to 10,754.56. ** HSI financial sub-index was 2.76 per cent lower and property sector dipped 2.65 per cent.

** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.54 per cent, while the IT sector was down 1.82 per cent. ** Growth in China's manufacturing sector sputtered in September as both external and domestic demand weakened, two surveys showed on Sunday.

** The top gainer on Hang Seng was WH Group, up 0.91 per cent, while the biggest loser was Swire Pacific, which was down 4.9 per cent. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.6 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.1 per cent. ** MGM China led the slide in gaming stocks after Chinese territory of Macau posted a slightly slower-than-estimated growth in gambling revenues in September ** The top gainers among H-shares were People's Insurance Group of China Co Ltd up 1.99 per cent, followed by China Telecom, gaining 1.8 per cent and CNOOC, up by 0.9 percent. ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Gas Holdings Ltd, which was down 8.8 per cent, Guangzhou Automobile Group, which fell 7.27 per cent and Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, down by 6.01 per cent.

(With inputs from agencies.)