Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 1.5 pct lower

Hong Kong stocks moved down 296.64 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 19,520.77 points on Friday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 19,500.38 and 19,828.93. Turnover totaled 73.66 billion HK dollars (about 9.46 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 2.64 percent, or 223.35 points, to close at 8,236.28 points.

All of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Properties sub-index fell the most at 1.92 percent, followed by the Finance at 1.6 percent, the Commerce & Industry at 1.42 percent, the Utilities at 0.27 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, lost 0.35 percent to close at 56.1 HK dollars.

Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks, tumbled 2.88 percent to close at 23.6 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX closed 2.44 percent lower at 175.4 HK dollars.

Local developers closed lower. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developers by market value, closed at 87.3 HK dollars, down 2.24 percent. Henderson Land lowered 2.68 percent to 41.75 HK dollars. CKH Holdings fell 0.35 percent to 97.55 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks went down. Bank of China fell 2.25 percent to close at 3.04 HK dollars. China Construction Bank closed 1.86 percent lower at 4.73 HK dollars. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender, shed 2.4 percent to 4.05 HK dollars.

As for oil shares, CNOOC fell 3.02 percent to close at 7.06 HK dollars. China's top refiner Sinopec plunged 4.5 percent to 4.03 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, lost 2.23 percent to 4.38 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.78 HK dollars) Endit