Hong Kong shares drop to one-week low

Hong Kong shares moved sideways in skittish trade yesterday, as a rally in offshore oil producer CNOOC on climbing global oil prices was offset by caution over an expected interest rate hike from the central bank.

A slide in shares of Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) also weighed. The stock hit its lowest level in over a year after it warned its first-half net profit would slide by at least 50 percent, although it pared losses to close down 5.7 percent.

Investors refused to take the bait of market-stabilizing measures promised by the mainland stock market regulator and instead chose to concentrate on the central bank's threat of a tougher fight against inflation after the recent fuel price hike.