Hong Kong stocks open lower as geopolitical risks persist

Hong Kong shares fell at the opening on Thursday, as the Middle East conflict showed no signs of easing.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 179 points, or 0.69 percent, to 25,719.

The tech gauge inched down 0.6 percent to 5,024.

As oil prices rose on supply disruption fears, oil majors like CNOOC (0883) and PetroChina (0857) went up 1.8 percent and 1.6 percent, marking the best performances among blue chips.

Most of tech heavyweights declined. Tencent (0700), Baidu (9888), and Alibaba (9988) slid 0.3 percent, 0.7 percent, and 2 percent, respectively.

Guotai Junan International (1788) fell by over 4 percent after it said an employee was detained by the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong.