The Hong Kong stock market closed lower on Friday, 1 April 2016, as investors risk sentiments hurt after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded its outlook for China and Hong Kong. S&P on Thursday cut its outlook for China's sovereign credit rating to negative from stable, and also downgraded the outlook for Hong Kong. Shares fell across the board, with the energy sector among the biggest decliners. The benchmark index opened up 9 points at 20,786, which marked the intra-day high. Even though China's official and Markit PMIs staged rebound on March, the benchmark saw its losses widen in late trade to 321 points at 20,455. The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 277.78 points, or 1.34%, to 20498.92 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, benchmark measure of performance of mainland China enterprises, shed 160.39 points, or 1.78%, to 8842.86 points. Turnover reduced to HK$65.3 billion from HK$71 billion on Thursday.
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