Hong Kong stocks close down 0.27%

Hong Kong stocks fell modestly on Wednesday. The benchmark Hang Seng Index moved down 63.07 points to close at 23,117.45 points, after trading between a day high of 23,214.68 points and a day low of 23,080.59 points. Turnover shrank to 50.18 billion HK dollars (6.47 billion U.S. dollars) from Tuesday's 55.05 billion HK dollars. The H-Share Index moved down 62.63 points, or 0.59 percent, to end at 10,588.01 points. Banking giant HSBC ended flat at 86.2 HK dollars. China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier fell 1.02 percent at 87.35 HK dollars. For Mainland lenders listed in Hong Kong, ICBC, China's largest bank by market value, weakened 0.9 percent to close at 5.49 HK dollars; CCB, the country's second largest lender by market value, dropped 0.33 percent at 6.11 HK dollars; BOC, another large bank, ended flat at 3.6 HK dollars. For local property developers, Sun Hung Kai, Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, rose 0.88 percent at 103.5 HK dollars; Cheung Kong properties, controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, gained 3.09 percent to 120 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, shed 0.23 percent at 8.74 HK dollars. Sinopec, China's top refiner, dipped 0.81 percent at 6.13 HK dollars. China Life, one of the world's largest life insurers by market value, lost 0.95 percent at 20.85 HK dollars (1 U.S. dollar = 7.76 HK dollar).