Hong Kong: Shares end lower as financial shares drag

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong shares finished slightly lower on Tuesday with financial shares leading indexes down, in line with a sell-off in mainland China markets.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.1 per cent to 20,666.75 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.3 per cent to 8,900.19.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.3 billion shares.

In China, the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 0.7 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6 per cent.

Analysts cited a variety of factors for the sell-off in China including Monday's central bank pension reform guidelines urging low cost finance for the elder care industry. Several said the biggest factor was ongoing concern about comments by central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan on speculative capital and rising debt levels in the financial sector.

REUTERS