HSI Down 0.2% On A-Share Fall; Esprit Outperforms

Forex News: HSI down 0.2% at 21135.44 vs 21272.25 midday, hurt by weakness in A-shares, with Shanghai Composite off 4.1%, weighed by banks, developers. Still, volume low vs recent average at HK$35.097 billion; "we believe market sentiment will remain weak in the near term while investors should adopt wait-and-see approach," says Dao Heng Securities. Esprit (0330.HK) outperforms for second day, +4.2% at HK$81.30 as company bought back more shares; Cnooc (0883.HK) worst performing, down 4.1% at HK$12.18 on oil price drop, but downstream-tilted Sinopec (0386.HK) +1.7% at HK$7.14. Intraday low of 21988.74 looks unlikely to be troubled again for rest of day