Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares finished lower on Tuesday, dragged down by Chinese firms after a survey showed China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted to an 11-month low in March.
Mainland shares also fell sharply on the survey during the morning session, but the main indexes returned to positive territory on bargain hunting by local investors.
The Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent, to 24,399.60, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.4 percent, to 12,005.02 points.
Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong's main board were China Mining, up 7.4 percent at HK$0.20 Gome, up 6.6 percent at HK$1.13 and North Asia Resources Holdings, up 21.1 percent at HK$0.18.
Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.6 billion shares.
Reuters