0858 GMT - Hong Kong stocks fell sharply after returning from a long holiday weekend, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index shedding 2.3% to close at 21027.76. KGI Securities in a research note attributes the weakness to the recent sluggish A share performance, China's soft economic data for 1Q despite better-than-expected GDP growth, as well as rising U.S. Treasury yields, which tend to draw funding away from Asian equities. China Merchants Bank led losses on the index with an 11% drop after its board voted to remove its president. Sportswear makers Li Ning and Anta dropped 7.3% and 5.2%, respectively, after the latter posted disappointing 1Q sales figures. Tech companies also weighed on the market, with Alibaba Health losing 6.0% and Meituan falling 5.9%. (yifan.wang@wsj.com)
$(END)$ Dow Jones Newswires
April 19, 2022 04:58 ET (08:58 GMT)
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