Tech, Autos Drag Down Hang Seng Index

Hong Kong and most regional shares dipped on Monday after new economic data from Beijing disappointed investors who were already unsettled by the outbreak of the Delta coronavirus variant.

The Hang Seng Index opened slightly lower and was pulled further down by tech shares.

It lost as many as 344 points before wrapping up the day down 210 points, or 0.8 percent, at 26,181.

Market turnover was HK$133.9 billion.

Sentiment took a hit after industrial output and retail sales on the mainland fell well short of expectations in July.

Mainland automakers were the biggest losers on the benchmark. BYD Company slumped 7.2 percent and Geely Auto sank 6.7 percent.

Tech shares underperformed after a commentary from China's top radio station called for "zero tolerance" towards online games that distort history.

The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 2.6 percent. Meituan lost 4.6 percent. Tencent declined 3.3 percent. Xiaomi dropped 2.4 percent. Alibaba retreated 1.9 percent.

Techtronic Industries continued to surge, jumping 3.7 percent to become the best performing blue-chip, after a number of brokers raised their target price on the power equipment maker following its results announcement.

HSBC eked out 0.3 percent of gains after the British lender announced that it is buying AXA’s Singapore insurance business.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged, while the blue-chip CSI300 index edged down 0.1 percent. The Shenzhen Composite shed 0.6 percent.

Shares in Taiwan gave up 0.7 percent.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei declined 1.6 percent to log a third straight session of losses as rising coronavirus infections continued to dampen sentiment. The Kospi in Seoul fell 1.2 percent. Australian stocks trimmed 0.6 percent. Singapore was about 0.6 percent weaker.