HONG KONG, April 14 (Reuters) - Banks led Hong Kong to a weaker finish on Thursday as trading volume fell ahead of China inflation data on Friday and amid caution over a possible increase in the reserve requirement for Chinese banks.
The Hang Seng Index ended down 0.5 percent at 24,014 on Thursday, after bargain-hunters had lifted the benchmark 0.7 percent on Wednesday. The China Enterprises Index lost 0.62 percent to close at 13,481.73.
The Shanghai Composite Index finished down 0.25 percent at 3,042.64.
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Volume on Hong Kong's main stock exchange decreased for a fourth session in a row, hitting 0.7 times its 30-day average, the lowest since March 29.
* Large mainland banks were among the biggest drags on the Hang Seng Index, with China Construction Bank Corp , Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd and Bank of China Ltd all down by more than 1.1 percent.
* Bernstein Research banking analyst Mike Werner in Hong Kong, who favours large banks over mid-sized peers, rated CCB and ICBC as "outperform", with the former as his top pick in the sector.
* Agricultural Bank of China Ltd , while not a benchmark constituent stock, bucked the trend as it finished up 2.2 percent, with volume at 1.6 times its 30-day average. Analysts said ABC was benefit ting from some rotational buying on Thursday as it finished the day technically overbought with the relative strength index at 72, up from 65 yesterday.
* Shun Tak Holdings Ltd headlined broad gains in Macau-related stocks listed in Hong Kong, gaining 6.9 percent on Thursday as investors remained bullish on the sector for the longer term.
DAY AHEAD:
* China releases March inflation numbers on Friday. Hong Kong media reported on Thursday that Chinese inflation in March accelerated to as fast as 5.4 percent from a year earlier.[ID:nL3E7FE0EO] (Reporting by Clement Tan and Vikram Subhedar; Editing by Chris Lewis)