Flat finish for HK stocks on Monday's close

Hong Kong stocks continued to see-saw in the afternoon trade and closed flat on Monday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index inched down 8 points, or 0.04 percent, to nearly 21,972 at the close. The market turnover was HK$169 billion.

The Hang Seng Tech Index grew 0.1 percent and was just shy of the 5,000-point mark.

The best performer among blue chip stocks was Sinopharm (1099), whose shares jumped nearly 5 percent after posting a 2.6 percent rise in net profit in the first quarter.

The worst performer was BYD Electronic International (0285) with a decline of 8.5 percent.

Shares of Hong Kong-based Bright Smart Securities & Commodities (1428) jumped by 82 percent after its chairman agreed to sell more than half of the firm’s shares to Ant Group for about HK$2.81 billion.

The A-share market fell slightly, with the CSI 300 Index down by 0.14 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index by 0.2 percent.

STAFF REPORTER