Chinese equities plunged on Thursday ahead of the ECB monetary policy decision. Hang Seng Index declined by 0.6% to close at 19,690.20. Only one sector in the index, utilities, managed to climb 0.16%. Hong Kong & China Gas and Power Assets rose 0.67% and 0.9%. At the same time, consumer services and telecommunications industries were the weakest. Sands China, China Mobile and China Unicom Hong Kong sank 3.41%, 1.5% and 0.7%, respectively. Property developers dragged China's stocks down on speculation that the government will implement more measures to cool the real estate market. Shares of China Overseas Land & Investment, Hang Lung Properties and China Resources Land lost 3.38%, 0.74% and 4.6%.