Hong Kong: Shares end down on poor factory data, banks drag

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong shares inched down on Monday after surveys showed activity in China's factory sector unexpectedly shrank for the first time in nearly 2-1/2 years in January.

Shares of China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd, the country's biggest private lender, was the main drag weighing on the market on Monday as local media reported that its president was under investigation for corruption.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.1 per cent, to 24,484.74, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.2 per cent, to 11,578.30 points.

Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong's main board were Chaoda Modern Agriculture Holdings Ltd, down 45.5 per cent at HK$0.60, China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd, down 3.1 per cent at HK$9.16 and China Construction Bank, down 1.1 per cent at HK$6.16.

Chinese investment flowing from Shanghai into Hong Kong through the mutual market access pilot programme took up 0.46 billion yuan (US$73.49 million) of the 10.5 billion yuan daily quota.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.6 billion shares.

REUTERS