Trade Talk Worries Weigh Down Hong Kong Shares

Hong Kong stocks sank on Thursday on profit-taking and following a negative lead from Wall Street, while investors awaited the latest developments in the China-US trade talks.

The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 percent, to 28,779.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent, to 3,106 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.5 percent, to 1,668.

But Sydney put on 0.3 percent, Singapore added 0.1 percent and Wellington rose 0.2 percent. Manila, Mumbai and Bangkok were slightly higher.

Traders were moving cautiously after the OECD's 2019 forecast cut for global economy and disappointing US private jobs numbers.

"We're seeing a slowdown in the economy, we're seeing a slowdown in corporate earnings," Oliver Pursche, chief market strategist at Bruderman Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV.

"The market is waiting to see if things are going to turn out better or worse than they expect, and we just don't know."

On currency markets the pound struggled as British and EU officials said talks to hammer out a deal that Prime Minister Theresa May could push through parliament had been "difficult", with a solution still elusive.

The British pound was trading at US$at $1.3174 and HK$10.34 on Thursday. (AFP)