Local Shares Pulled Down By Late HKEX Plunge

Local shares took a beating just before the market close on Wednesday, with heavyweight Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) coming under pressure following a report that Beijing is thinking about building an exchange to attract listings by major overseas companies.

The Hang Seng Index opened strong, up 225 points, but slid into negative territory in less than an hour.

The benchmark further dipped during late trade and finished near its lowest levels for the day, down 199 points, or 0.7 percent, at 28,378.

Turnover was HK$$164 billion.

HKEX was in positive territory until the publication of a report saying China is mulling having its own exchange to attract IPOs by major firms including those listed in Hong Kong. The local bourse operator lost 1.3 percent at the close following the late plunge.

But the worst performer on the blue-chip index was WH Group. The pork producer tumbled 12.7 percent after a number of banks trimmed the target price for the company following its results.

Topping the blue-chip leaderboard was CITIC, which jumped 2.2 percent. Goldman Sachs lifted its target price for the state-owned investment group and reports said it's cleared a court hurdle for an iron ore deal.

For the month, the Hang Seng Index fell two percent – the first monthly drop since December.

Markets across the border also finished the day in the red, despite official data showing the country's manufacturing activity grew by the most in three months.

The Shanghai Composite index retreated 0.4 percent, while the blue-chip CSI300 index gave up 0.9 percent. The Shenzhen Composite was 0.5 percent lower.

Elsewhere in the region, most shares tracked losses on Wall Street. The Nikkei in Japan slipped 0.9 percent. Seoul's Kospi edged down 0.3 percent. Taiwan lost 0.75 percent. Singapore was about half a percent lower. But Australia added 0.8 percent.