Hong Kong shares closed 2.37 percent lower on Wednesday as China counters tumbled after a slump on the Shanghai bourse, dealers said. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down 489.04 points at 20,135.50 after falling as low as 19,787.48. Turnover was 101.78 billion Hong Kong dollars (13.05 billion US). The Shanghai Composite Index slumped 5.00 percent on Wednesday on profit-taking after the market's recent surge. The fall in Shanghai dragged down investor sentiment over mainland companies listed in Hong Kong, but the continuing liquidity in the market limited losses. Turnover was boosted by trading in market debutant BBMG. The Chinese building materials producer rose 56 percent to 9.97 dollars from its initial public offering price of 6.38, having hit an intraday high of 10.50. Mark To, an associate director at Prudential Brokerage, said he expected the index to stay above the psychologically important 20,000 in the near term. 'The selling pressure was modest compared with the market's recent gains, given the strong liquidity in the market,' To told Dow Jones Newswires. Wednesday's declines came after the benchmark index rose 7.1 percent and hit consecutive 10-month highs in the previous four sessions. Index heavyweight HSBC fell 1.2 percent to 72.80 dollars, and China Mobile ended 1.6 percent lower at 82.25. Hong Kong-listed Chinese property firms fell on concerns over Beijing's strict enforcement requirements for second-home mortgages, after mainland real-estate sales and prices had risen sharply. Chinese oil companies fell after Beijing cut gasoline and diesel prices by 3 percent. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. fell 5 percent to 6.78 dollars, PetroChina slid 3.9 percent to 9.12 and CNOOC lost 4.1 percent to 10.42. Commodities companies fell alongside the broader market. Aluminium producer Chalco lost 6 percent to 8.59 dollars and coal producer Shenhua fell 5.3 percent to 31.45. 