Hong Kong stocks close 3.04% lower

People walk past an index board
displayed in Hong Kong, China, May 14, 2009. Hong Kong stocks retreated
3.04 percent, or 517.93 points to close at 16,541.69 on
Thursday.(Xinhua/Wong Pun Keung)
Photo
Gallery

HONG KONG, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks retreated 3.04 percent, or 517.93 points to close at 16,541.69 on Thursday, tracking U.S. market falls overnight prompted by declining retail sales.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened 2.52 percent lower in the morning and soon dived as much as 3 percent, led by falls of heavyweights including the HSBC and China Mobile.

The index touched the day high of 16,630.33 before shedding more points to the day low of 16,422.28.

Turnover was 63.65 billion HK dollars (8.22 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hong Kong market tumble came after U.S. stocks plunged overnight over a weak-than-expected retail sale released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Analysts said the 0.4-percent drop in retail sales in April in the world largest economy, which indicated that a recovery may not be "just around the corner," further dented market confidence.

Among the 42 constituents of the Hang Seng Index, only two stocks registered growth. Tencent, China's leading instant message service provider, rose 9.8 percent to 79.9 HK dollars after it reported a 94-percent rise in first quarter profit. Tencent touched the record of 82 HK dollars earlier during Thursday's trading.

Another gainer is China Unicom, up 0.23 percent to 8.85 HK dollars.

HSBC contributed to market tumble by decreasing 4.2 percent to 62.35 HK dollars and ChinaMobile lost 4.2 percent to 73.15 HK dollars after resuming trading. The sole market operator HKEx plunged 7.1 percent to 102 HK dollars as more financial institutions turned downbeat about its earning prospects.

Profit-taking in oil-related stocks pushed the sector lower, with Sinopec down 4.6 percent to 8.01 HK dollars, PetrolChina down4.2 percent to 6 HK dollars and CNOOC shedding 4.3 percent to 9.78HK dollars.

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Chinese banks suffered loss of different degrees. China Construction Bank fell 1.9 percent to 4.7HK dollars, ICBC down 2.4 percent to 4.49 HK dollars and the Bank of China down 2.1 percent to 2.85 HK dollars. (7.742 HK dollars is equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar)

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