Hong Kong shares erased earlier gains to close lower on Thursday, on renewed fears about credit tightening in China after regulators asked banks to control the pace of their lending.
Tencent Holdings dropped 5.5 percent after China’s most valuable Internet company announced earnings on Wednesday. Investors were taking profit as the stock had risen ahead of the earnings release, dealers said. Since the start of the month, Tencent had gained 9 percent.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.25 percent to 21,330.67, pulling back from an eight-week closing high on Wednesday. The China Enterprises Index . of top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks was down 0.2 percent.