Hong Kong stocks fall for fifth straight day

Hong Kong stocks fell for a fifth straight day on Wednesday, led by casino shares.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index moved down 84.66 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 22,585.84 points, after trading between 22, 529.75 and 22,726.56. Turnover totaled 107.79 billion HK dollars ( about 13.91 billion U.S. dollars).
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ended down 1.19 percent, or 132.53 points, to close at 11,269.43.
Three of the four sub-indices fell. The Commerce and Industry ended 1.23 percent lower. The Properties lost 0.54 percent; the Utilities dropped 0.91 percent and the Finance rose 0.4 percent.
Casino shares continued to lose ground as reports said that the central government will intensify its efforts to crack down on money laundering through casinos. Galaxy Entertainment Group plunged 8.2 percent to finish at 42 HK dollars. Sands China dropped 6.2 percent.
Tech shares also posted lackluster performances. Lenovo group slid 4.15 percent to close at 9.93 HK dollars. Tecent fell for a fifth straight day, down by 2.5 percent to end at 105.3 HK dollars.
Bucking the trend, mainland-based financial shares closed higher. The Bank of Communications rose 3.54 percent to 6.72 HK dollars; the Bank of China increased 2.7 percent to 4.14 HK dollars.
The Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, fell 0.07 percent to 72.55 HK dollars. It marked its seventh day of decline.
For the local property stocks, Sun Hung Kai, HK's largest property developer by market value, dipped 0.27 percent to close at 110.6 HK dollars; Cheung Kong properties, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, moved down 1.25 percent to 125.9 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 HK dollars)