Hong Kong stocks once plummeted more than 1,000 points but narrowed its losses to 774.57 points to close at 14,266.6 as fears of global recession further shattered market confidence.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index tracked Wall Street's losses overnight to open 162.96 points, or 1.08 percent, lower at 14,878.21 and once moved out of the negative territory by adding 120.52 points, or 0.8 percent, to the day's highest 15,161.69.
Momentum to support the index was short-lived as caution dominated the market sentiment ahead of quarterly earnings reports by blue-chip companies, pulling down the index below 15,000.
Huge selling orders mushroomed when trading was resumed in the afternoon session, crushing the index by as much as 1,002.76 points, or 6.67 percent, to the day's lowest 14,038.41.
Bargain-hunting investors scooped up shares of blue-chip companies, trimming the market's losses to 774.57 points, or 5.15 percent, to close at 14,266.6.
Turnover rose to 54.09 billion HK dollars (6.93 billion U.S. dollars) from Tuesday's 50.67 billion HK dollars (6.5 billion U.S. dollars).
Investors continued to dump shares of Citic Pacific as the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong confirmed that the commission has started investigating into the company's huge losses.
The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the market sole operator, also said it will follow up the Citic Pacific incident.
Citic Pacific, a Hong Kong-listed affiliate of China's Citic Group and also component of the benchmark Hang Seng Index, further slumped 24.69 percent to 4.91 HK dollars following its disclosure of potentially huge forex losses of about 2 billion U.S. dollars due to structured products contracts.
The Dah Chong Hong Holdings Ltd., a listed automobile dealer and distributor controlled by Citic Pacific, soared 48.28 percent to 1.29 HK dollars after Citic Pacific said it was in talks to sell all or part of its 56.67 percent stake in Dah Chong Hong.
Amid 42 components of the benchmark Hang Seng Index, losers greatly outnumbered gainers 41 to 1, with MTR Corporation outperforming the entire market. MTR was up 0.84 percent to 16.84 HK dollars.
Market heavyweight HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the index, fell 2.9 percent to 103.8 HK dollars.
Another blue-chip heavyweight China Mobile, or the country's largest mobile phone operator, slumped 5.33 percent to 63.95 HK dollars.
The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., the market's sole operator, dropped 2.47 percent to 80.95 HK dollars.
Hong Kong's real estate companies were all lower. Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest house developer, lost 6.42 percent to 64.1 HK dollars. Cheung Kong fell 2.99 percent to 74.6 HK dollars. Henderson Land dropped 3.49 percent to 27.65 HK dollars. New World Development fell 7.05 percent to 6.86 HK dollars. Sino Land weakened 5 percent to 7.6 HK dollars. Hang Lung Property moved down 2.89 percent to 16.14 HK dollars.
The China Enterprise Index, or H-shares, a barometer composed of companies registered in the Chinese mainland, plunged 566.25 points, or 7.79 percent, to 6,700.87 as the stock markets in the Chinese mainland fell.
China's energy companies all fell. PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, lost 8.22 percent to 5.92 HK dollars. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil company, fell 5.97 percent to 5.83 HK dollars. Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, dropped 7.2 percent to 5.29 HK dollars.
Banking and insurers in China were sharply lower after their recent upsurge on China's new economic stimulus package. ICBC, China's largest lender, fell 5.6 percent to 3.54 HK dollars. Bank of China, the country's second largest bank, lost 5.79 percent to 2.28 HK dollars. China Construction Bank slumped 7.35 percent to 3. 28 HK dollars. China Life, the country largest insurance company, dropped 4.29 percent to 22.3 HK dollars. Ping An plunged 11 percent to 30.8 HK dollars. Bank of Communications fell 9 percent to 4.76 HK dollars.
Source:Xinhua
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