Roundup: HK stocks close down 0.87 pct

Hong Kong stocks dropped 213.08 points, or 0.87 percent, to close on Wednesday at 24,315.02 points, after the benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 24,551.74 and 24,266.68. Turnover totaled 64.66 billion HK dollars (8.34 billion U.S. dollars).

Wednesday marked the end of a 21-day suspension of poultry imports from the Chinese mainland, with one thousand live chickens from the Chinese mainland made available for sale at Hong Kong's wet markets.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ended down 44.25 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 11,651.01 points.

All of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Properties and Commerce & Industry sub-indices dropped 0.66 percent and 0.81 percent respectively. The Utilities and Finance retreated 0.28 percent and 1.03 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, closed down 2.23 percent to 70.25 HK dollars, and its local unit Hang Seng Bank lost 0.42 percent to 142.2 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEx lost 0.51 percent at 175.6 HK dollars.

Blue chips led the fall. CNOOC went down 1.1 percent to 10.82 HK dollars. PetroChina dropped 0.58 percent to 8.52 HK dollars. China Merchants Holdings (International) lost 2.62 percent to 27.9 HK dollars.

Local developers Hang Lung Properties fell 1.34 percent to 22 HK dollars. Henderson Land Development, another major developer in Hong Kong, slid 1.8 percent to 54 HK dollars.

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, retreated 0.95 percent to 6.23 HK dollars.

ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, went down 0.9 percent to 5.51 HK dollars. Bank of China fell 0.93 percent to 4. 27 HK dollars.

Bucking the trend, Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, climbed 1.28 percent to 150.9 HK dollars. Cathay Pacific Airways rose 1.87 percent to 17.44 HK dollars. Endi