Hong Kong shares finished lower on Thursday in line with most Asian markets, which dropped due to tensions in West Asia and losses on Wall Street.

But oil giants CNOOC and PetroChina bucked the trend, rising 1.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively, as oil prices shot up nearly 6 percent after Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab allies started air strikes against rebels in Yemen.

The Hang Seng index fell 0.1 per cent to 24,497.08, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.4 per cent to 11,919.69 points.

Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong’s main board were China Mining, down 19.0 per cent at HK$0.15; Dinghe Mining, down 16.7 per cent at HK$0.23; and Bank of China, down 0.9 per cent at HK$4.36.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.4 billion shares.

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