Hong Kong equities retreat for third day

Hong Kong stocks suffered their biggest three-day slide in two weeks as petroleum exploration and production companies weighed on the market after CNOOC Ltd reported a slump in thirdquarter sales.

The Hang Seng Index closed 0.8 percent lower, taking its three-day loss to 2 percent. CNOOC, mainland’s biggest offshore oil and gas producer, lost 2.7 percent after posting a 15 percent fall in third-quarter sales as output declined with capital spending. Agauge of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong slipped 0.9 percent, with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp and PetroChina Co losing more than 1.3 percent.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index closed lower for a second day after reaching a nine-month high earlier in the week.

The earnings season for Hong Kong and mainland companies is gathering pace, with Bank of China Ltd, the first of China’s big lenders to publish its third-quarter results, reporting on Wednesday that its net interest margin narrowed as it eked out another gain in profit. Chinese industrial companies posted 7.7 percent growth in earnings in September from a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday, slowing from 19.5 percent a month earlier.

The Hang Seng Index closed at 23,132.35, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped to 9,608.91. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.1 percent.

Bank of Communications Co retreated 1.5 percent in Hong Kong, while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd dropped 0.6 percent.

the decline in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on Thursday

XINHUA Employees of Bank of China Ltd provide currency exchange services to customers at the media center of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.