Hong Kong stocks fall at noon

Hong Kong stocks dropped by midday on Thursday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell by 156 points, or 0.6 percent to 26,766 points by noon. The half-day market turnover was HK$127 billion. 

The Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.8 percent to 5,888 points at noon. 

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 0.44 percent to 4,017 points and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index gained 1.8 percent to 13,478 points at the midday close.