Hong Kong stocks fell 276.35 points, or 1.58 percent to close at 17,199.49 on Thursday.
Turnover moved down to 60.94 billion HK dollars (7.87 billion U. S. dollars), from Wednesday's 73.86 billion HK dollars (9.54 billion U.S. dollars).
As the U.S. Federal Reserve predicted an even bigger recession in the U.S., this added pressure on investor's interest in Hong Kong on Thursday, leading the benchmark index lower.
U.S. Fed officials expect the economy to contract between 1.3 percent and 2 percent this year, versus forecasts of only a 0.5 percent to 1.3 percent decline in January, according to the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's April meeting, released Wednesday.
Analysts said the index will likely find support at its 250-daymoving average of around 17,140 in the coming sessions, but said trading will remain volatile on global uncertainties such as the A/ H1N1 flu outbreak.
Property developers were the day's biggest blue-chip decliners, having previously outperformed. Hang Lung Properties fell 3.2 percent to 22.70 HK dollars, Swire Pacific dropped 3.1 percent to 67.85 HK dollars, and Sun Hung Kai Properties declined 2.9 percent to 81.80 HK dollars.
Banking heavyweight HSBC fell 2.6 percent to 66.20 HK dollars, consolidating further after hitting a year-to-date closing high of68.35 HK dollars on Tuesday.
Citic Pacific jumped 5.0 percent to 15.92 HK dollars, retreating from its intraday high of 16.54 HK dollars, boosted by a higher Australian dollar.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article