Hong Kong stocks dive to year-low, tracking Wall Street

Hong Kong stocks dived to the year's lowest level on Tuesday, slumped by Wall Street's woes overnight due to worsening global economic crisis.



The benchmark Hang Seng Index Hong Kong stocks lost 254.92 points, or 1.22 percent, to open at 20,675.75 and once narrowed the losses to 28.16 points, or 0.13 percent, to the day's highest 20,902.51.



Market sentiment worsened further in the afternoon session as the index extended its losses to as much as 446.3 points, or 2.13 percent, to close at the day's lowest 20,484.37, also the year's lowest level.



Turnover rose to 46.53 billion HK dollars from Monday's 45.22 billion HK dollars .



Among 43 components of the Hang Seng Index, declining shares outnumbered gainers four to 39.



Market heavyweight HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, fell 1.77 percent to 122.2 HK dollars, dragging down the index by 61.38 points alone.



Another heavyweight China Mobile, the largest stock measured by market capitalization, dropped 1.35 percent to 91.55 HK dollars.



Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the market's sole operator, weakened 2.43 percent to 94.55 HK dollars.



Handset manufacturer Foxconn International Holdings recovered 4. 8 percent to 6.12 HK dollars after Monday's slump of 24.06 percent due to its profit warning.



Local property companies in Hong Kong were among the hardest hit sector. SHK Property, the largest house developer in Hong Kong, plunged 4.68 percent to 103.8 HK dollars. Cheung Kong slumped 4.32percent to 102 HK dollars. New World Development plunged 6.3 percent to 11.9 HK dollars. Sino Land dived 5.3 percent to 12.5 HK dollars. Henderson Land shed 3.97 percent to 44.8 HK dollars. Hang Lung Property lost 2.13 percent to 23 HK dollars.



China Enterprise Index, or H-shares composed of companies registered in the Chinese mainland, further retreated by 251.93 points, or 2.3 percent, to 10,714.44 over worries of macro economy in the Chinese mainland.



Energy companies were all lower. PetroChina, or the country's largest oil producer, dropped 2.34 percent to 9.6 HK dollars. Sinopec, Asia's largest oil refiner, lost 1.57 percent to 7.55 HK dollars. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil producer, moved down 3.99 percent to 10.1 HK dollars.



Most of China's banks and insurance companies listed in Hong Kong fell. ICBC, China's largest lender, went down 0.98 percent to5.08 HK dollars. Bank of China, the country's second largest bank, fell 2.72 percent to 3.22 HK dollars. China Construction Bank weakened 2.32 percent to 5.9 HK dollars. Bank of Communications dropped 2.38 percent to 8.61 HK dollars. China Life, the country's largest insurer, shrank 1.48 percent to 26.55 HK dollars.



Ping An, the second largest insurance company, outperformed the entire market by rebounding 1.67 percent to 48.8 HK dollars.



Source: Xinhua