Hong Kong shares down on China economy concerns, crackdown on illegal futures trade
SHANGHAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares finished down on Monday amid concerns about China's weak economy and Beijing's crackdown on illegal futures trading.
The Hang Seng index fell 1.2 percent, to 22,370.04, while the China Enterprises Index lost 1.5 percent, to 10,240.33 points.
China has arrested two executives from a Hong Kong-owned fund for irregular futures trades involving hundreds of millions of dollars, Xinhua news agency reported in the first public arrests linked to a non-mainland fund caught up in a crackdown on risky trading.
Since Chinese stocks plunged in mid-June, the country has intensified probes into market manipulation which have so far netted journalists, senior executives in brokerages and even securities regulators.
News on the economy also added to the downbeat mood.
China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in October for a third straight month, an official survey showed on Sunday, while a private factory survey on Monday also showed activity fell for an eight consecutive month in October.
Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.7 billion shares.
(Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom and Ruby Lian; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
