国内英语新闻:HK stocks slip on heavyweight loss

HONG KONG, Aug.12 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks slipped nearly 190 points Thursday as heavyweight HSBC dropped 1.84 percent.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 188.83 points, or 0.89 percent, to close at 21,105.71 points, after trading between a day high of 21,124.98 points and a day low of 20,926.48 points.

Turnover totaled 67.83 billion HK dollars (8.73 billion US dollars), compared with Wednesday's 61.36 billion HK dollars.

The H-Share Index dropped 140.61 points, or 1.2 percent, to end at 11,597.02 points.

Banking giant HSBC edged down 1.84 percent to close at 80 HK dollars, after a plunge occurred on Wall Street overnight for concerns on global economy.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, moved up 2.44 percent, to end at 84.1 HK dollars.

Major mainland lenders dipped. ICBC, China's largest bank by market value, dropped 1.04 percent to close at 5.69 HK dollars; CCB, the country's second largest lender by market capitalization, edged down 0.61 percent to close at 6.5 HK dollars; BOC, one of the "big four?", edged down 1.23 percent to 4.02 HK dollars.

China Life, one of the world's largest life insurers by market value, dipped 0.74 percent to end at 33.6 HK dollars.

Major oil producers on Chinese mainland also declined, with PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer and Sinopec, China's top refiner, down 1.37 percent and 0.65 percent respectively.

Bank of Asia, one of the largest local bank in Hong Kong, reported its half-year result by midday, with net profit up over 70 percent, much higher than market's expectation. The company's shares surged 2.61 percent to end at 31.5 HK dollars.