Hong Kong shares sank more than two percent at the start of Tuesday as investors returned from a long weekend to news that China had retaliated to US tariffs, ramping up tensions in their trade war.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong plunged 2.10 percent, or 599.12 points, to 27,951.12.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.06 percent, or 30.88 points, to 2,872.83 and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, dived 1.19 percent, or 18.44 points, to 1,533.31.