Hong Kong shares retreat on tariff worries, still score best week in eight

Hong Kong stocks fell on Friday after reports some U.S. officials disagreed with scrapping tariffs on Chinese goods to seal a trade agreement with Beijing, denting optimism that had lifted the local market for much of the week. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 0.7% at 27,651.14. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.5%. ** But the Hang Seng index was up 2% from the previous week due to the optimism earlier in the week of a U.S.-China interim trade deal, its largest weekly gains in eight weeks. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.5%, the IT sector dipped 2.1%, the financial sector ended 0.6% lower and the property sector lost 1.1%. ** Multiple sources told Reuters on Thursday the plan to cancel tariffs faces fierce internal opposition in the White House and from outside advisers. ** The Hong Kong market gave up much of its advance made on Thursday when U.S. and Chinese officials said the two countries will roll back tariffs on each others' goods in a "phase one" trade deal if it is completed. ** Data on Friday showed China's exports and imports contracted less than expected in October, providing some relief for the export-reliant economy. ** A student at a Hong Kong university who had fallen during protests over the weekend died on Friday, the first student death in months of anti-government demonstrations in the Chinese-ruled city that is likely to be a trigger for fresh unrest. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.3%. ** About 1.49 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The volume traded in the previous session was 1.35 billion. ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.31% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

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