Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 0.96 pct lower

Hong Kong stocks dropped 237.4 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 24,465.38 points on Wednesday, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index trading between 24,705.96 and 24,439.29.

Turnover totaled 77.97 billion HK dollars (10.06 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ended down 206.58 points, or 1.73 percent, to close at 11,738.67 points.

All of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Properties and Commerce & Industry sub-indices dropped 1.35 percent and 1.25 percent respectively. The Finance slid 0.69 percent and the Utilities lost 0.36 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, closed up 0.07 percent to 69.8 HK dollars, and its local unit Hang Seng Bank rose 0.14 percent to 142 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX retreated 0.51 percent to 177. 3 HK dollars.

Blue chips led the fall. China Resources Enterprise lost 5.1 percent to 15.6 HK dollars. SJM Holdings dropped 3.74 percent to 10.82 HK dollars.

China Unicom slid 1.45 percent to 12.2 HK dollars. China Shenhua Energy Company fell 2.18 percent to 19.76 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks also dropped. China Life Insurance lost 2.34 percent to 31.3 HK dollars. Ping An Insurance (Group) fell 2.06 percent to 83.2 HK dollars. Bank of China retreated 2.05 percent to 4.3 HK dollars.

Bucking the trend, Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation rose 2 percent to 19.32 HK dollars. Lenovo Group moved up 0.34 percent to 11.92 HK dollars. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) gained 3.08 percent to 26.75 HK dollars. Endi