Hang Seng Index down 5.5% in morning session

Nov. 20, 2008 (China Knowledge) - Hong Kong stocks Thursday shed 704.29 points or 5.50% to end the morning session at 12,111.51 points, with mainboard turnover standing at HK$23.30 billion.

Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, which tracks the overall performance of 43 Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, dropped 397.05 points or 6.12% to 6,092.07 points.

Market heavyweight HSBC Holdings Plc<5><HBC>, which accounts for the largest weighting for the Hang Seng Index, dived 4.29% to HK$75.80.

Another market heavyweight China Mobile<941><CHL>, the largest firm by capitalization in the Hong Kong market, lost 3.31% to HK$64.30.

Sinopec<600028><386><SNP>, Asia's largest oil refiner dropped 4.31% to HK$4.22, while PetroChina<601857><857><PTR>, the country's largest oil producer and also involved in refining business, went down 4.60% to HK$5.39.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)<601398><1398> edged down 6.59% to HK$3.26.

Top insurer China Life Insurance<601628><2628><LFC> plunged 6.53% to close at HK$18.62.