Hong Kong stocks closed lower on Monday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index falling 0.75 percent, or 163.9 points, to 21,756.93 points. Turnover totaled 70.24 billion HK dollars (about 9.06 billion U. S. dollars).
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 1.29 percent, or 129.01 points, to close at 9,899.37 points. Three of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Commerce & Industry sub-index fell the most by 0.81 percent, followed by the Finance 0.8 percent and the Properties 0.69 percent.
The Utilities edged up 0.05 percent. Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, fell 0.58 percent to 59.9 HK dollars. Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, moved down 0.56 percent to close at 26.7 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX dipped 0.59 percent to 186.4 HK dollars.
Oil stocks posted lackluster performances after a sharp drop in global crude prices. China's top refiner Sinopec fell 2.29 percent to 5.13 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, slid 2.56 percent to 5.71 HK dollars. CNOOC decreased 3. 46 percent to 8.38 HK dollars. China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, rose 1.03 percent to 93.1 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, fell 1.37 percent to 10.06 HK dollars.
Local property stocks also closed broadly lower. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, decreased 0.66 percent to 105 HK dollars. Henderson Land slid 2.32 percent to 48.5 HK dollars. CKH Holdings edged down 0.1 percent to 103.5 HK dollars.
Mainland-based financial stocks ended mixed. Bank of China closed down 0.28 percent at 3.53 HK dollars. China Construction Bank went down 0.9 percent to 5.53 HK dollars. Bank of Communication decreased 1.41 percent at 5.61 HK dollars. ICBC lost 0.42 percent to 4.73 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 7.75 HK dollars)
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