Hong Kong shares on Wednesday retreated from its best-ever start to a new year, while mainland stocks went up.

The Hang Seng Index fell as low as 26,408 in morning trade, more than one percent lower than the previous close. while the Hang Seng TECH Index slid to as low as 5,710, down nearly two percent.

On the mainland, the CSI 300, which indicates the performance of the top 300 Chinese companies, edged up slightly to 4,792 in mid-morning trade.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.29 percent at 4,095, at noon, while the Shenzhen Component Index was 0.35 percent higher at 14,071.