Hong Kong, Shanghai Markets Drop By Noon

Hong Kong shares were down Friday morning with investors taking a step back after a rally on Wall Street as anxieties over the escalating US-China trade war refused to abate.

The Hang Seng Index edged down 0.2 percent, to 26,073 by the break.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 percent, to 2,784 while the Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 0.8 percent, to 1,487.

Most other Asian markets rallied, tracking a rebound on Wall Street. Positive data out of Japan helped drive the Nikkei index up by 0.7 percent, after figures showed the world's third-biggest economy was growing faster than analysts had predicted.

The stronger-than-expected data showed Japan's gross domestic product grew 0.4 percent from the previous quarter on robust consumer demand, beating analysts' median forecast of 0.1 percent.

"The reading of the data itself was not a huge buying peg... but nonetheless it confirmed personal spending could pick up," said Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

Seoul jumped 1.3 percent and Sydney rose 0.3 percent. Singapore lost 0.5 percent. (AFP)

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