Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 0.22 pct lower

Hong Kong stocks dropped 59.13 points, or 0.22 percent, to close on Thursday at 26,694.66 points.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 26,595.96 and 26, 873.67. Turnover totaled 106.2 billion HK dollars (13.7 billion U. S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 151.46 points, or 1.13 percent, to 13,263.37 points.

Two of the four sub-indices gained ground. The Properties sub- index rose at 0.43 percent, followed by the Utilities at 0.12 percent, while the Finance dropped at 0.39 percent and the Commerce & Industry at 0.22 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, advanced 0.7 percent to 72.4 HK dollars.

Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, gained 0.87 percent to close at 34.8 HK dollars.

Local bourse operator HKEX edged down 0.63 percent to 283.6 HK dollars.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, retreated 1.39 percent to 99 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, fell 3.98 percent to 12.08 HK dollars.

Local property stocks closed mixed. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, ended flat at 126.3 HK dollars. Henderson Land lost 0.74 percent to 53.35 HK dollars. CKH Holdings rose 0.35 percent to 114 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks also closed mixed. Bank of China gained 0.86 percent to close at 32.1 HK dollars. China Construction Bank fell 0.53 percent to 7.48 HK dollars. Bank of Communication went down 2.39 percent to 7.75 HK dollars. ICBC lost 0.93 percent to 6.37 HK dollars.

As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec rose 1.87 percent to 6.55 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, shed 0.81 percent to 8.56 HK dollars. CNOOC moved down 1.44 percent to 10.98 HK dollars. Endi