Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 0.22 pct lower

Hong Kong stocks dropped 49.53 points, or 0.22 percent, to close on Wednesday at 22,352.17 points.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 22,324.41 and 22,479.46. Turnover totaled 72.56 billion HK dollars (9.36 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 69.21 points, or 0.67 percent, to 10,245.53 points.

Two of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Finance sub-index dropped at 0.58 percent, followed by the Commerce & Industry at 0.17 percent. While the Utilities rose at 1.01 percent, followed by the Properties at 0.59 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, retreated 0.16 percent to 61.8 HK dollars. Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, gained 0.36 percent to close at 28.25 HK dollars.

Local bourse operator HKEX edged down 1.04 percent to 209.8 HK dollars.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, lost 0.44 percent to 90.25 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, dropped 0.31 percent to 9.74 HK dollars.

Local property stocks were generally up. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, rose 0.51 percent to 98 HK dollars. Henderson Land gained 0.85 percent to 47.5 HK dollars. CKH Holdings advanced 0.2 percent to 102.1 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks closed down. Bank of China retreated 0.57 percent to close at 3.49 HK dollars. China Construction Bank fell 0.55 percent to 5.47 HK dollars. Bank of Communication went down 0.71 percent to 5.61 HK dollars. ICBC lost 0.62 percent to 4.78 HK dollars.

As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec fell 1.88 percent to 5.23 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, fell 1.54 percent to 5.75 HK dollars. CNOOC moved down 1.98 percent to 8.43 HK dollars. Endit