Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 0.22 pct lower

Hong Kong stocks dropped 61.33 points, or 0.22 percent, to close on Thursday at 27,523.72 points.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 27,393.31 and 27, 611.72. Turnover totaled 124.51 billion HK dollars (16.1 billion U. S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ended down 103.74 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 14,132.16 points.

Three of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Utilities sub- index fell the most at 0.45 percent, followed by the Finance at 0. 37 percent and the Commerce & Industry at 0.16 percent, while the Properties rose 0.32 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, climbed 0.58 percent to 74.25 HK dollars.

Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, rose 0.44 percent to close at 34.5 HK dollars.

Local bourse operator HKEX rose 0.07 percent to 288.6 HK dollars.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, fell 0.19 percent to 103.4 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, lost 3.15 percent to 13.54 HK dollars.

Local property stocks closed mixed. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, fell 0.08 percent to 131 HK dollars. Henderson Land gained 0.32 percent to 63.15 HK dollars. CKH Holdings advanced 2.15 percent to 171.3 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks closed lower in general. Bank of China dropped 1.15 percent to close at 5.16 HK dollars. Bank of Communication retreated 0.93 percent to 7.48 HK dollars. ICBC closed 0.45 percent lower at 6.7 HK dollars, while China Construction Bank gained 0.13 percent to 7.58 HK dollars.

As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec lost 1.02 percent to 6.82 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, fell 1.57 percent to 9.42 HK dollars. CNOOC rose 0.97 percent to 12.46 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 HK dollars) Endi