Hong Kong shares open lower on Wall Street's fall, US economic worries

Hong Kong shares opened lower on Wednesday, their first day of trading for the new year, as Monday's weak performance on Wall Street on news of faltering mortgages and shrinking credit continue to fan worries about the US economy slipping into a recession.

The Dow fell 101.05 or 0.8 percent on new year's eve to end the year at 13,264.82, with investors expecting further market volatility this year.

"Investors will likely be sidelined by worries about the US market and the health of the economy. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty lurking in the global markets and investors are just generally cautious," said Conita Hung, research head at Delta Asia Securities.

The Hang Seng index opened down 180.45 points or 0.7 percent at 27,632.20.