Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 0.15 pct higher

Hong Kong stocks finished 2015 with a gain on Thursday by rising 32.25 points, or 0.15 percent, to close early at 21,914.40 points for the new year break.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 21,864.12 and 21,970.33. Turnover totaled 24.68 billion HK dollars (about 3.17 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index moved up 1.15 points, or 0.01 percent, to close at 9,661.03 points.

Four sub-indices all gained ground, with the Utilities sub-index rising the most by 0.26 percent, followed by the Commerce and Industry 0.24 percent, the Finance 0.08 percent and the Properties 0.05 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, fell 0.4 percent to 61.90 HK dollars.

Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, gained 3.0 percent to close at 28.85 HK dollars.

Local bourse operator HKEX fell 0.4 percent to 198.50 HK dollars.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, went up 0.2 percent to 87.50 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, rose 0.1 percent to 9.45 HK dollars.

Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, closed down 0.2 percent to 93.60 HK dollars. Henderson Land ended 0.2 percent higher at 47.50 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks ended lower. Bank of China closed flat at 3.46 HK dollars. China Construction Bank gained 0.2 percent to 5.31 HK dollars. ICBC closed flat at 4.68 HK dollars.

As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec moved down 0.6 percent to 4.68 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, retreated 1.2 percent to 5.08 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 7.75 HK dollars) Enditem