HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks tumbled at the open Friday on growing fears about the Ukraine war as it emerged that a fire had broken out at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant after it was hit by Russian shelling.

The Hang Seng Index sank 2.62 percent, or 588.21 points, to 21,879.13.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.61 percent, or 21.13 points, to 3459.98, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange shed 0.70 percent, or 15.95 points, to 2,278.13.