Hong Kong Stocks Down As Early Flourish Wanes

Hong Kong stocks finished Wednesday morning's trade slightly lower as traders struggled to track another record finish on Wall Street.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.6 percent, to 25,045.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent, to 3,401, while the Shenzhen Composite Index edged up 0.4 percent, to 2,319.

Tokyo, Seoul, Wellington and Taipei were all higher but there were losses in Singapore, Manila and Jakarta.

Oanda's Edward Moya said: "With no chance that the Fed will be tightening over the next handful of years, investors continue to pile into stocks."

Sydney was the best performer, though, rallying more than 1 percent after data showing Australia's virus-hit economy fell into recession for the first time in three decades.

Bargain-buying helped the ASX after three days of losses, though the Australian dollar was down 0.5 percent.

Traders were also keeping an eye on Washington after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would reach out to the Democrats to work on pushing through a new stimulus package for the beleaguered US economy. (AFP)

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