Hong Kong shares track mainland stocks lower as China start-ups drag

** China shares shed early gains to end lower, as more than 300 start-ups slumped earlier in the session after regulators moved to curb speculation on the tech-heavy ChiNext board. ** Yum China Holdings Inc dropped as much as 6.3% on its Hong Kong market debut, bucking the recent trend of first day pops for local listings with global markets' volatility weighing on investor sentiment. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.72%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.88%.

Hong Kong shares retreated in the afternoon session to finish lower on Thursday, tracking broad weakness in the mainland market dragged down by a slump in China's start-up stocks. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 155.39 points or 0.64% at 24,313.54. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.46% to 9,683.75. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.7%, while the financial sector ended 1.11% lower and the property sector dipped 0.35%. ** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.61% at 3,234.82, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.06%. ** China shares shed early gains to end lower, as more than 300 start-ups slumped earlier in the session after regulators moved to curb speculation on the tech-heavy ChiNext board.

** Yum China Holdings Inc dropped as much as 6.3% on its Hong Kong market debut, bucking the recent trend of first day pops for local listings with global markets' volatility weighing on investor sentiment.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.72%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.88%. ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Gas Holdings Ltd, which was down 2.47%, PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd, which fell 2% and Postal Savings Bank of China Co Ltd, down by 1.7%. ** About 1.35 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 75.3% of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.79 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.75 billion.