Hong Kong stocks fell 36.28 points, or 0.17 percent to close at 21,480.22 on Monday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened 0.49 percent higher in the morning and expanded the gain to 0.77 percent by midday. However the growing momentum was snapped by news that the local government sold two sites at prices slightly above the lower limits estimated by market analysts.

The index plunged over 250 points at one point and finished trading near the day low of 21,474.11.

The turnover remained at a low level following the Christmas break, totaling 36.78 billion HK dollars (about US$4.74 billion).

Among the four categories of the Hang Seng Index, properties saw the largest retreat of 0.68 percent, with shares of leading local property companies down as much as 2 percent.

Sino Land, which defeated other bidders and successfully bought both plots with 10.4 billion HK dollars on the day, gained 0.55 percent to close at 14.74 HK dollars. Given that the company already owns three plots near the newly-auctioned ones, market observers say the company is posed to become more competitive for its relatively large land bank at low prices.

The finance sector also underperformed the general market by falling 0.36 percent. The country's largest lender ICBC went down 0.31 percent to 6.39 HK dollars, China Construction Bank down 0.30 percent to 6.6 HK dollars, and Bank of China shedding 1.43 percent.

The two leading insurance stocks headed to different directions, with China Life up 0.27 percent while Ping An down 0.22 percent and lagging far behind in terms of volume as well as turnover.

The commerce and industry category chalked up gain of 0.17 percent, dwarfed only by the utilities, which grew 0.37 percent to 37,158.81, 135.62 points higher compared to the previous closing.

For heavyweights, HSBC eased 0.23 percent to 88.3 HK dollars, HK Exchange down 0.51 percent to 136.8 HK dollars while China Mobile up 0.29 percent to 69.8 HK dollars. 7.765 HK dollars = 1 US dollar)