Hong Kong stocks dived 651.92 points, or 2.48 percent, to close at 25,610.21 on Wednesday, on profit-taking and the fall on mainland markets.
Turnover jumped to 101.35 billion HK dollars (13.01 U.S. dollars) from Tuesday's 69.74 billion HK dollars. Only three of the benchmark Hang Seng index's 43 constituents ended higher Wednesday.
Oil refiners PetroChina and Sinopec led the drop after crude prices hit a record high. PetroChina fell 5.4 percent to 11.46 HK dollars. JPMorgan downgraded the stock to 'underweight' from ' neutral,' after Goldman Sachs reduced its recommendation to 'sell' from 'buy' Tuesday.
Chinese mainland financial stocks also weighed as investors worried over the outlook for economic growth and amid speculation that Ping An Insurance may seek approval for its huge fundraising plan soon.
Chinese mainland stock index tumbled on Wednesday, led by banking and property shares amid worries over the outlook for inflation.
The Hang Seng index had risen about 7 percent in the three weeks up to Tuesday's close. Traders said the Index will find strong near-term support at 25,000, as investors are likely to stay positive mainly on the improving sentiment in the U.S. markets.
"Optimism over the less-severe-than-expected economic recession (in the U.S.) and bottoming out of the credit crisis amid the Fed's rescue measures is dominating the market, so that investors can ignore negative news like high oil prices," said Ernie Hon, a strategist at ICEA Securities.
"The strong external sentiment will continue to back the local stock market," Hon added. But Wilson Wong, an analyst at Taifook Securities, said the index could remain in a tight range as investors wait for further cues from China and the U.S.
Heavyweight HSBC ended 1.1 percent lower at 134.30 HK dollars, after rising 4.3 percent over the past three weeks. China Mobile fell 2.8 percent to 132.50 HK dollars, after rising 8 percent during the same period.
Record oil prices weighed on airlines. Blue-chip carrier CathayPacific fell 3.7 percent to 16.22 HK dollars, Air China tumbled 7.6 percent to 5.85 HK dollars, while China Eastern dropped 8.4 percent to 3.48 percent.
Alibaba.com Ltd, in which U.S. Internet company Yahoo is a key investor, jumped as much as 5 percent before closing the day down 2.6 percent at 15.00 HK dollars as concern over its premium customer growth and the impact of a slowing global economy offset investor enthusiasm over its forecast-beating quarterly results.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article