Hong Kong stocks close 0.8% lower

Hong Kong stocks ended 0.8 percent lower on Monday, with the benchmark Hang Seng index falling 179.68 points to 22,388.56 points, after trading between 22,260.13 and 22,576.35. Turnover totaled 57.17 billion HK dollars (about 7.37 billion U.S. dollars). The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 138.39 points, or 1. 39 percent, to close at 9,797.86. Four sub-indices all lost ground, with the Properties sub-index falling the most by 1.90 percent, followed by the Finance 0.73 percent, the Commerce and Industry 0.66 percent and the Utility 0. 45 percent. Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, closed 0.5 percent lower at 83.90 HK dollars, while its local unit Hang Seng Bank closed up 0.5 percent at 125. 00 HK dollars. Bank of East Asia, another Hong Kong's major bank, was down 0.5 percent at 31.75 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX lost 1.0 percent to 120.80 HK dollars. Local developers Hang Lung Properties sank 2.8 percent at 21.10 HK dollars. Henderson Land, another major developer in Hong Kong, went down 0.9 percent to 42.80 HK dollars, and Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka- shing, was up 0.3 percent to 118.80 HK dollars. As for mainland-based financial stocks, China Construction Bank, the country's second largest bank which accounts for the third largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, retreated 0.9 percent to 5.24 HK dollars. ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, slid 0.6 percent at 4.65 HK dollars. Bank of China decreased 0.6 percent to 3.23 HK dollars. Bank of Communications, China's fifth biggest lender measured by assets, went down 1.4 percent to 4.97 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, was down 2.7 percent at 7.90 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.761 HK dollars)