Hong Kong shares retreat as investors book profits

Hong Kong shares fell on Tuesday as a rally that pushed the city's benchmark index sharply higher over four days lost steam, with investors booking profits from recent gains. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 363.50 points, or 1.38%, at 25,975.66, after rising as much as 1.68% in the morning session.

Hong Kong shares fell on Tuesday as a rally that pushed the city's benchmark index sharply higher over four days lost steam, with investors booking profits from recent gains. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 363.50 points, or 1.38%, at 25,975.66, after rising as much as 1.68% in the morning session. The index had rallied 8.39% over the previous four sessions. ** The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.18% to 10,600.41. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 2.5%, while the IT sector dipped 0.88%, the financial sector ended 1.24% lower and the property sector dipped 2.38%. ** Hong Kong shares dropped despite comments from Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday that market reaction had been positive to China's recently introduced national security law. ** Volumes were nearly double the market's 30-day moving average, with about 3.91 billion Hang Seng index shares trading hands.

** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, which gained 3.29%, while the biggest loser was Wharf Real Estate Investment Company Ltd, which fell 5.68%. ** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.37% at 3,345.34 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 0.6% at a more than five-year high. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.71%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.44%. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.0224 per U.S. dollar at 08:20 GMT, 0.04% weaker than the previous close of 7.0194.