Shares in Hong Kong and China fell on Wednesday after Beijing tempered expectations for a strong pick-up in the mainland economy by setting a 7.5 percent growth target this year. The benchmark Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.34 percent, or 77.85 points, to close at 22,579.78 on turnover of HK$64.96 billion (US $8.38 billion). Hong Kong began the day on a high, following a positive lead from Wall Street and Europe fuelled by easing fears about Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin played down the prospect of war.
However, they later fell back in line with a sell-off after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced the government's growth target at the opening of the annual session of the National People's Congress, the legislature.
The figure is below the 7.7 percent growth seen in 2013 and 2012 - which was the worst rate since 1999.
The economic growth estimate is closely watched for insight into the leadership's thinking about the economy and how they expect it to perform.
The "around 7.5 percent" goal came after soft recent economic data, with a key manufacturing index slipping to an eight-month low in February.
HSBC fell 0.12 percent to HK$81.40, energy giant CNOOC shed 1.75 percent to HK$12.36 and China Mobile slipped 0.20 percent to HK$73.75 while New World Development was 2.20 percent lower at HK$9.78.
However, Internet firm Tencent added 1.63 percent to HK$622.50.
Shanghai's composite index fell 0.89 percent, or 18.39 points, to 2,053.08 on turnover of 91.6 billion yuan ($14.9 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, slipped 0.24 percent, or 2.68 points, to 1,103.67 on turnover of 126.7 billion yuan.
"The target was not that bad, but it didn't exceed market expectations either," Central China Securities analyst Zhang Gang told AFP.
"The market is still in a consolidation mode. Its performance will depend on what kind of reforms and innovative policies emerge (from the meeting)," he said.
A looming interest payment default on a corporate bond issued by Chaori Solar - which also lists stock in Shenzhen - also hurt sentiment, analysts said. Financial firms fell. China Merchants Securities lost 3.01 percent to 10.31 yuan while China Minsheng Banking fell 2.33 percent to 7.54 yuan.
Defence-related stocks dropped on profit-taking after rising on international tensions like the Ukraine crisis and North Korea's missile tests. Xian Aero-Engine dropped 2.57 percent to 23.49 yuan while Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry fell 2.14 percent to 17.34 yuan.
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