Hong Kong stocks ended on Thursday sharply lower, with the benchmark Hang Seng falling back below the 30,000 point mark after the previous session's breakthrough, as a tumble in mainland stocks soured the sentiment.

The Hang Seng index fell 1.0 per cent to 29,707.94, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.9 per cent to 11,737.06 points, the lowest level in a month. Most of the damage was done in the last hour of trading.

Investors took profit in sectors including financials , IT and consumer goods, as pessimistic mood in China split over the border.

The mainland blue-chip index suffered its worst one-day fall in almost 1-1/2 years with a nearly 3 per cent slump, as Beijing stepped up its deleveraging campaign.

The top gainer on Hang Seng was WH Group Ltd up 1.69 per cent, while the biggest loser was AAC TechnologiesHoldings Inc which was down 4.24 per cent.

The biggest gainers among H-shares were China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd up 2.41 per cent, followed by Great Wall Motor Co Ltd gaining 0.98 per cent and China Railway Construction Corp Ltd up by 0.77 per cent.

The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd which has fallen 4.73 per cent, New China Life Insurance Co Ltd which has lost 4.7 per cent and China Merchants Bank Co Ltd down by 4.1 per cent.

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