Hong Kong stocks end week lower as global coronavirus cases cross 1 mln

Hong Kong stocks slipped on Friday to end the week lower, as risk-averse sentiment strengthened on continued spread of the coronavirus with infections surpassing one million globally.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 43.95 points, or 0.19%, at 23,236.11. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.37% to 9,491.1. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 2.5%, while the IT sector fell 1.08%, the financial sector ended 0.59% lower and the property sector dipped 0.13%.

** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, which rose 5.91%, while the biggest loser was PetroChina Co Ltd, which fell 5.56%. ** For the week, HSI lost 1.1%, while HSCE shed 0.1%.

** Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday with more than 52,000 deaths, as the pandemic further exploded in the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally of official data. ** Latest survey of China's economy pointed to more signs of damage from the pandemic.

** China's services sector struggled to get back on its feet in March after a brutal month of unprecedented shop closures and public lockdown amid the outbreak, a private survey showed. ** Business activity in Hong Kong deteriorated further in March, a private survey showed, as demand, output and confidence plunged amid the deepening pandemic.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.46%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.01%. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.0889 per U.S. dollar at 08:15 GMT, 0.1% weaker than the previous close of 7.0821.

** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.21% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.