Hong Kong shares close 1.0% lower

HONG KONG – Hong Kong shares closed 1.0 percent lower Monday after Standard & Poor’s stripped France and Austria of their triple-A credit ratings and downgraded seven other eurozone members.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 192.22 points to 19,012.2 on turnover of HK$38.80 billion ($4.99 billion).

Chinese shares closed down 1.71 percent, a day before the release of key economic figures for 2011, on persistent concerns that the slowing domestic economy could hurt company earnings, dealers said.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was down 38.39 points at 2,206.19 on turnover of 42.9 billion yuan ($6.8 billion).