Tracking overseas losses, Hong Kong stocks fell on Wednesday, but the market drew support from views that more money will flow in from the mainland. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 168.65 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 28,081.21, after trading between 27,982.14 and 28,214.86.
Turnover totaled 157.51 billion HK dollars (20.32 billion U.S. dollars) The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index moved down 100.06 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 14,701.88. Three of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Properties dipped the most by 0.88 percent, followed by the Finance 0.73 percent and the Commerce and Industry 0.45 percent. The Utilities edged up 0.14 percent. Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, dipped 0.63 percent to 74.15 HK dollars. Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, slid 0.7 percent to close at 35.4 HK dollars.
Local bourse operator HKEX lost 1.16 percent to 305.8 HK dollars. China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, fell 0.85 percent to 105.5 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, gained 0.29 percent to 13.9 HK dollars. Local property stocks closed lower.
Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, fell 1.03 percent to 135 HK dollars. Henderson Land lost 2.53 percent to 63. 6 HK dollars. CKH Holdings, which was controlled by multimillionaire Li Ka-shing, dived 28.5 percent to 118.2 HK dollars. Mainland-based financial stocks closed mixed. Bank of China edged down 0.37 percent to close at 5.39 HK dollars.
Bank of Communication retreated 0.77 percent to 7.69 HK dollars. ICBC closed 0.43 percent lower at 6.92 HK dollars, and China Construction Bank gained 0.38 percent to 7.94 HK dollars. As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec fell 0.84 percent to 7.11 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, closed at 9.6 HK dollars, down 0.42 percent. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 HK dollars)
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