Hong Kong stocks kicked off Thursday morning with more gains after minutes showed Federal Reserve officials planned to slow their pace on interest rate hikes at some point as they try to rein in inflation.

The Hang Seng Index added 0.35 percent to 19,992.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.19 percent to 3,286, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange eased 0.23 percent to 2,237. (AFP)