HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks opened on the back foot Wednesday following a pullback on Wall Street in response to weak factory data and after Fitch cut the United States’ AAA credit rating.

The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.54 percent, or 108.35 points, to 19,902.77.

Hong Kong shares open sharply higher

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.28 percent, or 9.09 points, to 3,281.86, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange shed 0.21 percent, or 4.35 points, to 2,057.41.