HONG KONG, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks closed down 579.24 points, or 2.03 percent, at 27,918.14 points on Wednesday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 27,827.05 and 28,457.87. Turnover totaled 190.17 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 24.47 billion U.S. dollars).