Hong Kong stocks fall for second day

Hong Kong stocks fell for a second day on Thursday, weighed on by the losses of the mainland stock market.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 626.9 points, or 2.23 percent, to close at 27,454.31 points, after trading between 27, 242.11 and 28,162.25. Turnover totaled 206.05 billion HK dollars ( 26.59 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index moved down 518.88 points, or 3.53 percent, to close at 14,183.

All of the four sub-indices lost ground. The Finance dipped the most by 2.74 percent, followed by the Properties 2.26 percent and the Commerce & Industry 1.66 percent. The Utilities dropped 1.56 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, lost 0.94 percent to end at 73.45 HK dollars.

Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, slid 2.12 percent to close at 34.65 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX lost 1.83 percent to 300.2 HK dollars.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, fell 2.09 percent to 103.3 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, retreated 3.16 percent to 13.45 HK dollars.

Local property stocks closed mixed. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, fell 1.78 percent to 132.6 HK dollars. Henderson Land lost 1.73 percent to 62.5 HK dollars. However, CKH Holdings, which was controlled by Li Ka-shing, gained 2.37 percent to 121 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks closed lower. Bank of China dropped 3.71 percent to close at 5.19 HK dollars. Bank of Communication retreated 4.16 percent to 7.37 HK dollars. ICBC closed 2.75 percent lower at 6.73 HK dollars, and China Construction Bank dipped 3.65 percent to 7.65 HK dollars.

As for energy stocks, China's top refiner Sinopec fell 2.67 percent to 6.92 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, closed at 9.34 HK dollars, down 2.71 percent. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 HK dollars)