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Hong Kong shares dipped on Monday, with oil firms and casino operators leading the slide, as investors awaited direction from major corporate earnings later the week, marking a weak start to the Year of Goat.
The Hang Seng index eased 0.03 per cent to 24,825.02 points by the lunch break, after five straight days of gains. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong slid 0.4 per cent to 12,019.83 points.
“It has been a slow start to the (Lunar) New Year with no new funds or catalyst to boost the market as the mainland markets are still on holiday,’’ said Linus Yip, chief strategist at First Shanghai Securities.
HSBC rose 0.4 per cent ahead of its yearly earnings report later in the day. Property group Cheung Kong and conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa are set to report their yearly earnings on Thursday.
Mainland China markets are closed from February 18 through February 24 for the New Year holiday.
Shares of oil-related stocks were down on profit-taking, with CNOOC Ltd losing 2.6 per cent and China Petroleum & Chemical and PetroChina both down 1.8 per cent. Casino operator Galaxy Entertainment fell 2.5 per cent and Sands China lost 1.6 per cent.
But the shares of Italian luxury fashion house Prada jumped 4.5 per cent, heading for their best day in four weeks, after it said it would watch costs after reporting 2014 sales fell 1 per cent.
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