Hong Kong shares hit by Omicron, debt and tech worries

Hong Kong shares fell on Tuesday amid growing concern over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, while property shares tumbled on debt risks for developers and tech shares dipped after social media platform Weibo was hit with a fine. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 318.63 points, or 1.33%, at 23,635.95.

Hong Kong shares fell on Tuesday amid growing concern over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, while property shares tumbled on debt risks for developers and tech shares dipped after social media platform Weibo was hit with a fine.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 318.63 points, or 1.33%, at 23,635.95. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.55% to 8,418.61. ** As worries rise over the global spread of Omicron, several companies in one of China's biggest manufacturing hubs have suspended operations as local authorities try to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

** The subindex of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 1.2%, while the IT sector dipped 1.83% and the financial sector ended 1.37% lower. ** The property sector dipped 2.77% and mainland developers sank 6.87% on fresh investor concerns about debt risks.

** China's securities regulator said on Monday it would properly resolve bond default risks and crack down on "fake financial exchanges" after holding a meeting to discuss instructions from last week's Central Economic Work Conference. ** The Hang Seng Tech index fell after China's internet regulator fined social media platform Weibo Corp 3 million yuan ($470,000) for what it said was repeatedly publishing illegal information.

** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed 0.53% lower at 3,661.53 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.67%. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was 0.66% weaker, while Japan's Nikkei index closed 0.73% lower.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.3629 per U.S. dollar at 08:10 UTC, 0.08% firmer than the previous close of 6.368. ** Overall trading volumes remained low. About 1.55 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded on Tuesday, roughly 87.3% of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.78 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.54 billion.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)