HSI ends down 253 pts at 26,532; turnover at HK$68.1bn

   Hong Kong stocks closed weaker in quiet trade on Wednesday following the small drop of the Dow overnight. The blue-chip index opened up 14 points to 26,771 and briefly rose 32 points to the day high of 26,818. It then gave up all of its gains and fell 294 points at one stage, hitting the day low of 26,491. 
  The Hang Seng Index ended down 253 points or 0.9% to 26,532. The H-share index fell 82 points or 0.8% to 10,444. Turnover decreased to HK$68.1 billion from HK$75.2 billion on Tuesday.  
  Blue chips were mostly weaker. HSBC (00005) softened 0.3% to HK$61.2. HKEX (00388) slipped 0.4% to HK$241.2. Tencent (00700) dipped 2.3% to HK$320. China Mobile (00941) fell 1.1% to HK$64.95. AIA (01299) shed 0.7% to HK$74.7.
  Chinese developers were pressured as Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published a report saying that home prices in tier-one cities dropped slightly last month. China Resources Land (01109) dropped 1.7% to HK$32.75. China Evergrande (03333) slid 2.9% to HK$18.04. China Overseas Land & Investment (00688) shed 2.1% to HK$25.75. Sunac China (01918) descended 0.7% to HK$34.9. China Vanke (02202) fell 1.9% to HK$28.35. But Country Garden (02007) edged up 0.2% to HK$10.68.