Hong Kong shares rise 0.55 pct, led by Sinopec
(Updates to official close, adds details)
HONG KONG, June 5 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares closed up 0.55 percent on Thursday, supported by gains in Chinese telecom stocks after a two-day slide and led by a 4.4 percent jump in oil refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) and advances in local blue chips.
Gains were trimmed by a 2.1 percent fall in CNOOC (0883.HK) on retreating crude oil prices and a 3.9 percent drop in Cosco Pacific (1199.HK) amid a lack of clarity in its bid to buy some concession rights at Greece's Piraeus Port.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI closed 132.04 points higher at 24,255.29 after testing the 24,000 level in the morning session.
Advances on the index were shored up by a 0.9 percent gain in index heavyweight HSBC Holdings (0005.HK) and a 0.6 percent rise in China Mobile (0941.HK)
Turnover on the mainboard fell to HK$63.7 billion ($8.2 billion) from HK$78.91 billion on Wednesday.
"The lacklustre performance on the mainland bourses and apprehension ahead of the U.S. jobs data on Friday has put many investors on the sidelines," said Peter Lai, director with DBS Vickers.
The China Enterprises Index .HSCE of Hong Kong-listed mainland firms underperformed the broad market with a 0.2 percent drop, dragged lower by resources stocks on worries of price intervention.
Coal stocks also hurt the mainland markets, with the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC closing 0.54 percent lower.
Yanzhou Coal (1171.HK) skidded 3 percent, following Wednesday's 8.9 percent fall after the company was forced to supply extra coal to power generators at a discount in its home province of Shandong.
Earlier today, the vice governor of Shaanxi province also urged miners to hold coal prices for the next three months, sending coal stocks lower.
Rival companies China Shenhua (1088.HK) and China Coal Energy (1898.HK) also slid further on fears that the price regulation would spread to other parts of China. Shenhua was down 2.1 percent and China Coal gave up 3.4 percent.
Mainland metal stocks dropped on worries that the price intervention in the coal sector may be duplicated in other commodities. Angang Steel (0347.HK) plunged 5.5 percent, while Maanshan Iron & Steel fell 3.3 percent.
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical (0338.HK), a subsidiary of Sinopec Corp soared 7.3 percent after a fire damaged Sinopec's Maoming refinery, providing Sinopec Shanghai an opportunity to hike prices, analysts said. [ID:nPEK295784]
Telecom stocks recovered some ground after two days of hefty losses following Monday's industry restructuring announcements. China Netcom 0906.HK finished 2 percent higher at HK$23.25, China Telecom (0728.HK) gained 0.6 percent after it said it had attracted interest from a number of strategic investors. Continued...
