HK stocks close flat, lacking clues ahead of New Year holiday

Hong Kong stocks closed down a modest 2.82 points, or 0.01 percent, at 21,496.62 on Wednesday, with low turnover suggesting a lack of directions as fund managers went on vacation ahead of the New Year.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index moved between 21,320.11 and 21, 620.74 during the day\’s trading, with turnover rising to 47.76 billion HK dollars (6.12 billion U.S. dollars) from Tuesday\’s rather modest 34.42 billion HK dollars (4.41 billion U.S. dollars).
The HSI futures closed down 15 points at 21,426 on the settlement day.
Analysts said they expected trading volume to remain thin on Thursday, with some tipping for the HSI to close at around 21,500 on the last trading day this year.
The finance sub-index moved down 0.31 percent to close at 33,617.69, making it the only loser among the four major categories. The properties gained 0.13 percent, the commerce and industry 0.31 percent, and the utilities 0.54 percent.
Market heavyweight HSBC gained 0.25 HK dollars, or 0.28 percent, to close at 88.45 HK dollars, and local unit Hang Seng Bank was up 0.35 percent at 113.8 HK dollars.
China Mobile, the leading mobile carrier on the Chinese mainland, was up 1.01 percent at 69.65 HK dollars. Smaller rival China Unicom was up 1.11 percent at 9.95 HK dollars.
The mainland banks were mostly lower, with China Construction Bank down 1.22 percent, ICBC down 0.94 percent and Bank of China down 0.49 percent.
Some recently listed shares were in focus, with Carpenter Tan rising 16.03 percent to 4.56 HK dollars and Perception Digital up 14.67 percent at 0.86 HK dollars. Bawang Group was down 11.88 percent at 5.49 HK dollars. (7.8 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)