(Yicai Global) March 19 -- The Hang Seng Index, which tracks the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has retreated in afternoon trading after hitting a nine-month high in the morning session.

The benchmark peaked at 29,486.15 at 9.40 a.m., up 0.26 percent to mark a new high since June 22, but was down 0.07 percent at 29,388.47 as of 3.03 p.m.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which includes mainland firms listed in the special administrative region, was 0.49 percent lower.

Among individual performers, Tencent-backed online reading app China Literature [HKG:0772] soared 7.04 percent to HKD38 (USD4.84) a share after posting an 81.4 percent profit gain last year, while China's app-for-everything operator Meituan Dianping [HKG:3690] was down 4.24 percent at HKD53 per share. Its food delivery app Meituan Waimai, as well as competitor Ele.me, were accused last night of monitoring users' conversations via their phone microphones.

Editor: James Boynton