Hang Seng Index soft at noon

Hong Kong stocks fell by midday on Wednesday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped by 272 points, or 1 percent, to 26,438 points by noon. The half-day market turnover was HK$148.6 billion. 

Semiconductors and drugmakers performed well.

The Hang Seng Tech Index declined by 1.7 percent to 5,729 points at noon.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 4,095 points and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index increased by 0.35 percent to 14,071 points at the midday close.