Local Shares In The Red Amid Tech Sell-off

Hong Kong and mainland shares led declines in the region on Monday over fears Beijing would tighten policy to contain soaring valuations after setting an economic growth target that came in below consensus.

The Hang Seng Index started the day strong, up more than 260 points, but reversed course soon after.

It tumbled 676 points to a one-month low before recovering some ground to finish down 557 points, or 1.9 percent, at 28,540.

Turnover reached HK$276.8 billion.

Tech shares were battered. Xiaomi and Meituan each slumped more than 8 percent. Tencent sank more than 5 percent. Alibaba lost 2.8 percent.

But banks had a good day. Bank of China (Hong Kong) jumped 4.5 percent to become the blue-chip winner. HSBC rallied 3.6 percent.

Mainland oil giants also fared well as oil prices surged. PetroChina put on 4.1 percent and CNOOC added 2 percent.

Markets across the border also failed to hold on to early gains and underperformed despite official figures showing the country's exports grew at a record pace last month. The Shanghai Composite Index slumped 2.3 percent. The blue-chip CSI300 index and the Shenzhen Composite each slid more than 3 percent.

Shares around the region were mixed. In Japan, the Nikkei shed 0.4 percent. Seoul's Kospi retreated 1 percent. Taiwan inched down 0.2 percent. But Australia edged up 0.4 percent and Singapore gained almost 2 percent.

In commodities, Brent crude topped US$70 a barrel on production concerns after Yemen's rebel forces attacked major facilities owned by Saudi Arabia's state giant Aramco.