HK stocks close 2.88% lower

HONG KONG - Hong Kong stocks ended 2.88 percent lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Hang Seng index falling 604.02 points to end at 20,382.87 points, after trading between 20,374.14 and 20,703.76. Turnover totaled HK$75.34 billion.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 319.24 points, or 3.33 percent, to close at 9,265.30.

All of the four sub-indices lost ground, with the Properties sub-index falling the most by 3.60 percent, followed by the Finance 2.97 percent, the Commerce and Industry 2.65 percent and the Utility 2.15 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, fell 2.7 percent to HK$81.50, while its local unit Hang Seng Bank closed 2.2 percent lower at HK$115.30. Bank of East Asia, another Hong Kong's major bank, closed down 2.5 percent at HK$27.55. Local bourse operator HKEX lost 0.8 percent to HK$121.10.

Local developers Hang Lung Properties was down 2.2 percent at HK$26.85. Henderson Land, another major developer in Hong Kong, decreased 1.7 percent to HK$45.25, and Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, slid 3.6 percent to HK$102.10.

As for mainland-based financial stocks, China Construction Bank, the country's second largest bank which accounts for the third largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, declined 5.2 percent at HK$5.15. ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, retreated 3.8 percent at HK$4.57. Bank of China fell 2.8 percent to HK$3.08. Bank of Communications, China's fifth biggest lender measured by assets, dropped 2.9 percent to HK$5.32.

As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec lost 3.9 percent to HK$5.37. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, ended down 2.6 percent at HK$8.22.