Hong Kong's Hang Seng falls as tech firms dip

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell on Wednesday in its first trading session after an extended holiday as tech heavyweights and financials dragged it lower. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 263.94 points or 0.91% at 28,674.80.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell on Wednesday in its first trading session after an extended holiday as tech heavyweights and financials dragged it lower.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 263.94 points or 0.91% at 28,674.80. The index had closed at its highest level in more than a week on Apr. 1 before a five-day holiday weekend. ** The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.31% to 11,070.58.

** Index heavyweight Tencent dropped 3.75% and was the biggest drag on the Hang Seng for the day. Its fall pushed the TECH index down 1.37% and the IT sector down 2.4%. ** Shares of Lenovo Group also dragged on the TECH index, falling 4.07% for a third consecutive session of declines after the PC maker settled a multi-year patent fight with Finland's Nokia.

** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.2%, the financial sector ended 0.63% lower and the property sector slid 0.22%. ** Wednesday's falls came despite inflows from mainland investors who were net buyers of Hong Kong shares on the day, according to Refinitiv data.

** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was WH Group Ltd, which gained 2.84%, while the biggest loser was Haidilao International Holding Ltd, which fell 5.59%. ** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.1% at 3,479.63 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.71%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.28%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.12%. ** The yuan was quoted at 6.543 per U.S. dollar at 08:10 GMT, 0.03% weaker than the previous close of 6.5409.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)