HKEx Chairman Ronald Arculli (right) and Chief Executive Charles Li hand out lai-see on Monday. Provided to China Daily

Hong Kong stocks fell, dragging the benchmark index to its biggest drop on the first trading day of the lunar new year since 2008, as developers declined on signs the Central Government will act further to cool property prices.

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) retreated 1.5 percent to close at 23553.59 after the market resumed trading from the lunar new year holiday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 2 percent to 12454.07.

China Resources Land dropped 2.1 percent to HK$13.98. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd slid 1.9 percent to HK$14.60.

Premier Wen Jiabao pledged on Feb 1 to curb property speculation and add more affordable housing after home prices rose last month as buyers ignored government measures to deter them.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd lost 1.7 percent to HK$5.78. China Construction Bank Corp slid 1.6 percent to HK$6.79.

Loans by Chinese banks to small and medium-sized companies rose at a faster pace last year than loans to big enterprises, the Xinhua News Agency said. Outstanding loans to small companies gained 29.3 percent to 7.55 trillion yuan in 2010, it said. Loans to large enterprises rose 13.3 percent to 13.42 trillion yuan, it said, citing the People's Bank of China.

Hang Lung slid 3.2 percent to HK$33.45. Sino Land Co declined 2.8 percent to HK$14.88. Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd fell 1.9 percent to HK$130.20.

Hong Kong's home sales in January slumped 16.5 percent to HK$33.3 billion ($4.3 billion) from December, the city's Land Registry said.

PetroChina Co slid 3.6 percent to HK$10.76. Cnooc Ltd fell 2.9 percent to HK$17.26. Crude oil futures declined 1.7 percent to $89.03 on Feb 4.

United Co Rusal surged 6 percent to HK$12.80 on optimism the Moscow listing of the depository receipts will help the stock to be included in the MSCI indices.

Bloomberg

(HK Edition 02/08/2011 page3)