Hong Kong stocks went down 301.66 points, or 1.45 percent, to close at 20,494.77 on Wednesday, weighed by falling mainland market.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened slightly lower at 20,779. 77 but widened its losses in the afternoon. It moved as high as 20, 995.81 but found strong resistance, and some analysts said they saw support at the ten-day moving average of 20,247.
The HSI index futures were trading at a moderate discount of 44 points.
Turnover remained high at 84.09 billion HK dollars (10.78 billion U.S. dollars), compared with Tuesday's 95.85 billion HK dollars (12.29 billion U.S. dollars).
Only six of the 42 HSI constituents turned out gainers, while 33 lost ground. The other 3 remained unchanged. Market heavyweight and banking giant HSBC shed 0.65 HK dollars, or 0.78 percent to close at 82.45 HK dollars, and China Mobile, the mainland's leading mobile carrier, finished the day down 0.06 percent at 81.05 HK dollars.
The China Enterprises Index was down 2.05 percent at 11,965.48, tracking losses on the regional markets, especially the drop of 1.24 percent on the mainland. Investors were worried that the mainland market may outpaced the global markets too much with its recent surge and accumulated surge of about 80 percent in this year.
The mainland financial shares were losers, with commercial lenders ICBC down 1.85 percent, China Construction Bank down 3.25 percent and Bank of China down 2.90 percent. China Life was down 0. 44 percent and Ping An down 1.25 percent.
The properties sub-index turned out the biggest loser among the four major stock categories, shedding 2.72 percent. The finance sub-index trailed with a drop of 1.75 percent, while the commerce and industry genre lost 0.81 percent.
Leading industry player Cathay Pacific Airways once bucked the trend to surge over 5 percent but slipped into negative ground at the market close at 12.3 HK dollars, down 0.34 HK dollars, or 2.69 percent. The company reported a net profit of 812 million HK dollars (104 U.S. dollars) in the first half, compared with net losses in the same period last year, thanks to gains from oil contract. But chief executive Tony Tyler reportedly said he was not seeing signs of sustained recovery in the industry.
Cheung Kong, the business conglomerate headed by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, shed 0.56 percent, and SHK Properties, the leading residential housing developer in Hong Kong, slumped 4.69 percent to close at 113.8 HK dollars.
The energy shares were also losers, with industry giant PetroChina down 0.87 percent, Sinopec down 2.25 percent and offshore oil producer CNOOC down 1.12 percent. Coal business conglomerate China Shenhua shed 1.21 percent.
Esprit Holdings bucked the trend to gain 2.15 percent at 56.9 HK dollars after recent recommendation by Credit Suisse. (7.8 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollars)
Source: Xinhua
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