HONG KONG, May 6(Reuters) - Hong Kong shares finished lower for an eighth successive session on Friday, posting another weekly loss, with energy shares hobbled by a rout in commodities prices.
Gains in transport counters, on expectations that lower crude oil prices will help ease the burden of escalating fuel costs, limited losses on the Hang Seng Index to 0.44 percent. The China Enterprises Index ended the day up 0.32 percent.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index posted a mild loss and appeared to find support at the level from which it bounced back in mid-March towards a 2011-peak in the following month. The index closed down 0.3 percent at 2,863.89.
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Energy issues were the top losers again in Hong Kong, with the sub-index down 1.36 percent on the day. The index's 10.5 percent decline since mid-April is the worst four-week return since the euro zone debt crisis last May.
* Transport stocks surged as the drop in oil prices deepened on hopes that fuel costs, a major input cost for such companies, would ease. Air China Ltd shares jumped 5.8 percent while China Shipping Development Co Ltd rose 6.8 percent.
* Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd rose 4 percent after a local newspaper reported that it was interested in bidding for the beer operations of Australia's Foster's Group Ltd , which the Chinese brewer later denied. [ID:nL3E7G612Q]
WEEK AHEAD:
Market players are focusing on U.S. payrolls numbers expected later on Friday, where a stronger-than-expected number could prompt investors back into risky assets. [ID:nN05259672]
Next week also sees a slew of monthly economic data from China, including the closely watched inflation data that is expected to show a slight easing. [ID:nL3E7G60AQ] Pan-Asia..... Japan........ S.Korea.... S.E. Asia........... Hong Kong... Taiwan..... Australia/NZ........ India....... China......
OTHER MARKETS: Wall Street.......... Gold......... Currency.. Eurostocks.......... Oil........... JP bonds... ADR Report......... LME metals.. US bonds... Stocks News US.. Stocks News Europe... DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Taiwan diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead World forecasts
TOP NEWS: For top Asian company news, double click on: U.S. company news European company news Forex news Global Economy news Technology news Telecoms news Media news Banking news Politics/General news Asia Macro data A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at: http://topnews.session.rservices.com
LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks <0#.INDEX> Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt <0#USBMK=> Hong Kong Dollar LME price overview (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar; Editing by Chris Lewis)