HK stocks flat amid oil, US worries

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 5.42 points, or about 0.02 percent, to 22,527.48 points in a volatile session marked by thin trade.

Wall Street's performance, with the Dow falling 29.23 points, weighed on traders along with negative results from American Express Co. and a cautious earnings outlook from Apple Inc.

Oil, meanwhile, held steady near US$131 a barrel in electronic trading Tuesday in Asia following a gain of more than US$2 in the previous session.

After recent rallies, Hong Kong investors were pausing to see how Wall Street would react overnight, analysts said.

"Investors are waiting for the U.S. markets to go down. That's really affecting performance today. Oil is also putting some pressure on the market," said Ernie Hon, an analyst with ICEA Securities.

Airlines fell on worries that a sustained rebound in oil prices would hurt their earnings.

Cathay Pacific lost 3.2 percent to HK$14.72, and China Southern slipped 4.3 percent to HK$3.12.

Upstream oil producer CNOOC edged higher 0.7 percent.

In other stocks, computer maker Lenovo dropped more than 5 percent after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to "neutral," citing weak demand in China.