HK stocks fall on continued Europe debt woes

Hong Kong shares fell on Monday as traders remained nervous over the eurozone debt crisis with the Greek leaders struggling to build up a coalition government, and cautious ahead of China's key inflation data this Wednesday. Hong Kong stocks fell 164.90 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 19,677.89 on Monday. The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 19,649.57 and 19,977.09. Turnover totaled 55.45 billion HK dollars (about 7.14 billion U.S. dollars). The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 58.73 points, or 0. 55 percent, to close at 10,646.75. Three sub-indices lost ground, with the Commerce and Industry sub-index falling the most by 1.13 percent, followed by the Finance 0.79 percent, and the Properties 0.56 percent. The Utility gained 0.51 percent. China Construction Bank (CCB) fell 2.9 percent to 5.65 HK dollars, being the top drag on the Hang Seng Index after a media report that Bank of America, which sold about half of its 10 percent stake in CCB in August, was looking to further cut its stake in the Chinese lender. CNOOC lost 2.2 percent to 14.92 HK dollars after a deal to a buy BP Plc's 7.1 billion U.S. dollars stake in Argentine crude producer Pan American Energy failed. Great Wall Motor jumped 5.7 percent to 12.68 HK dollars after the automaker invested 412 million yuan (about 65 million U.S. dollars) in Baoding Great Wall Internal Combustion Engine Manufacturing and 1.06 billion yuan in Tianjin Boxin Autoparts. Tingyi Holding Corp., China's largest packaged-food maker, surged 9.4 percent to 22.75 HK dollars. The company said PepsiCo Inc. will swap its China bottling operations for a stake in Tingyi 's beverage business. Among other blue chips, HKEX, the city's sole bourse operator, dropped by 1.0 percent to 134.30 HK dollars. Hang Seng Bank rose by 0.7 percent to 99.75 HK dollars. (7.771 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)