Hong Kong stocks shed 0.41% by close
The benchmark Hang Seng Index eased 102.62 points to 24,807.28 on turnover of HK$94.00 billion.
HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong shares fell 0.41 percent Tuesday, snapping a five-day winning streak and tracking losses in Shanghai despite a positive lead from Wall Street and Europe.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index eased 102.62 points to 24,807.28 on turnover of HK$94.00 billion (US$12.13 billion).
The market had climbed 4.7 percent since last Monday s sell-off that came in line with a 7.7 percent plunge in Shanghai, after mainland regulators said they were cracking down on margin trading.
Hong Kong dealers had been given a healthy lead from their US and European counterparts, where most markets climbed on hopes Greece s new anti-austerity government will be able thrash out a new bailout deal with its creditors.
On Wall Street the Dow edged 0.03 percent higher, the S&P 500 added 0.26 percent and the Nasdaq put on 0.29 percent. And in Europe; London, Paris and Germany all closed with big gains.
However, selling was fuelled on news out of China that industrial companies profits had fallen eight percent month-on-month in December. That marked the biggest drop since at least October 2011, Bloomberg News reported.
The National Bureau of Statistic also said combined profits of industrials rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in 2014, much slower than the 12.2 percent in 2013.
In share trading China Mobile fell 1.15 percent to HK$102.70, Tencent shed 0.73 percent to HK$136.00 and China Life Insurance eased 2.00 percent HK$31.90.
Sinopec lost 3.84 percent to HK$6.21 as oil prices sank further, but HSBC added 0.96 percent to HK$73.30 and Casino operator Sands China put on 2.95 percent to HK$40.15.
In mainland China the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.89 percent, or 30.22 points, to 3,352.96 on turnover of 418.3 billion yuan ($67.0 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China s second exchange, edged up 0.12 percent, or 1.91 points, to 1,549.93 on turnover of 294.8 billion yuan.
"The weak (industrial firms ) data provide investors with an excuse to sell shares to lock in some profits," Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities, told Bloomberg.
Weakness in China s yuan currency has also raised fears of capital leaving the country, analysts said.
"People are worried that... foreign exchange might see accelerated withdrawal," Zhang Gang, a strategist for Central China Securities, told AFP.
From the start of the year to Monday the yuan had weakened around 0.78 percent against the US dollar.
Financial stocks led the declines.
In Shanghai, banking giant ICBC dropped 3.04 percent to 4.78 yuan, Ping An Insurance fell 2.18 percent to 73.96 yuan and Citic Securities eased 1.99 percent to 28.05 yuan.
Property companies also lost ground. Poly Real Estate tumbled 4.62 percent to 10.74 yuan in Shanghai, while Vanke fell 3.80 percent to 13.18 yuan in Shenzhen.
Oil firms were lower after the state economic planner cut government-set prices for refined oil products.
Shanghai-listed PetroChina dropped 3.67 percent to 12.61 yuan and Sinopec lost 2.85 percent to 6.48 yuan.
