Hong Kong Stocks Fall, With Techs Down But Mainland Banks Up

Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks pulled back Thursday, giving back gains from the previous session and tracking weakness in the U.S. markets overnight. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.7% about an hour into trade, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.4%. Weak spots on the Hong Kong market included tech shares (Lenovo Group Ltd. down 2.7%, Tencent Holdings Ltd. down 1%) and airlines (Air China Ltd. down 2.1%, China Southern Airlines Co. down 3.9%). Gains for mainland Chinese banks helped offset the losses, after the State Council proposed getting rid of binding loan-to-deposit ratio requirements. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. rose 0.7%, Bank of Communications Co. rallied 2.2%, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. added 0.9%. On the other hand, Bank of China Ltd. fell 4.8% as its share traded ex-dividend.