By V. Phani Kumar
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong shares declined early Wednesday in the wake of overnight losses on Wall Street, but the fall was modest after the market suffered drops in the previous three sessions. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% to 22,006.36, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was flat. Banks led the fall, with HSBC Holdings Plc (HK:5 88.95, -1.60, -1.77%) (HBC 57.13, +0.01, +0.02%) dropping 1.6% to extend losses. Energy producers gained as crude-oil retraced some of its recent losses, with Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883 11.82, -0.04, -0.34%) (CEO 152.08, +0.28, +0.18%) rising 0.5% and PetroChina Co. (HK:857 9.56, -0.10, -1.03%) (PTR 124.49, +0.06, +0.05%) rising 0.5%. Utility CLP Holdings Ltd. (HK:2 51.90, +0.10, +0.19%) (CLPH.Y 6.71, +0.01, +0.15%) gained 0.5% after the government allowed it to raise 2010 power tariffs by 2.6%. Shares of Chinese property developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. (HK:1638 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) rose on its Hong Kong debut, and were at 3.49 Hong Kong dollars (45 U.S. cents) in the first few minutes of trading, compared with its initial public offering at 3.45 Hong Kong dollars. China's Shanghai Composite, meanwhile, dropped 0.9%.
