Hong Kong shares ended Wednesday lower despite gains on Wall Street, with investors' risk appetite curbed by North Korea's latest missile test. At close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 57.02 points or 0.19 percent at 29,623.83. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.49 percent to 11,647.98. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.4 percent while the IT sector dipped 1.71 percent, the financial sector was 0.12 percent higher and property sector rose 0.25 percent.
The top gainer on Hang Seng was BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd up 4.44 percent, while the biggest loser was AAC Technologies Holdings Inc which was down 3.08 percent. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.07 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.49 percent. So far this year, the Hang Seng index is up 34.91 percent, while China's H-share index is up 24.6 percent. The Hang Seng has risen 5.08 percent this month.
The top gainers among H-shares were Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd up 5.02 percent, followed by China Vanke Co Ltd gaining 4.75 percent and China Merchants Bank Co Ltd up by 1.13 percent. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were BYD Co Ltd which was down 2.69 percent, Great Wall Motor Co Ltd which fell 2.0 percent and Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd down by 2.0 percent. About 1.48 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded, roughly 76.7 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 1.93 billion shares a day. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.80 billion.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Hang Seng index was 13.59 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 2.9 percent.
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