Hong Kong stocks close 0.72% higher

Hong Kong stocks rose 153.75 points, or 0.72 percent to close at 21,423.13 points on Thursday. The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 21,440.40 and 21, 277.01. Turnover totaled 58.37 billion HK dollars (about 7.52 billion U.S. dollars), down from Wednesday's 65.36 billion HK dollars. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index went up 67.09 points, or 0.71 percent, to close at 9,537.71. All of the four sub-indices gained grounds. The Commerce & Industry sub-index rose the most at 1.39 percent, followed by the Properties, 0.69 percent, the Utilities, 0.59 percent, the Finance, 0.17 percent. Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, rose 0.13 percent to close at 78.75 HK dollars. Its local unit Hang Seng Bank ended down 0.59 percent at 117.80 HK dollars. Bank of East Asia, another Hong Kong's major bank, increased 1.57 percent to 29.20 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX fell 0.25 percent to 119.80 HK dollars. As for the local developers, Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK- based developer owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, edged up 0.18 percent to 113.40 HK dollars. Henderson Land gained 1.48 percent to 41.05 HK dollars. Sun Hung Kai Properties, another major developer, lowered 0.91 percent to 92.30 HK dollars. Hang Lung Properties moved up 1.65 percent to 21.60 HK dollars. Mainland-based financial stocks moved up in general. Bank of China fell 0.31 percent to 3.19 HK dollars. Bank of Communications rose 0.61 percent to 4.91 HK dollars. China Construction Bank gained 0.58 percent to 5.20 HK dollars. ICBC fell 0.65 percent to 4.66 HK dollars. As for energy stocks, PetroChina gained 0.54 percent to close at 7.43 HK dollars. CNOOC added 0.69 percent to 11.66 HK dollars. Sinopec added 0.68 percent to 5.93 HK dollars (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.76 HK dollars).