Hang Seng Index slips 3.07pc as investors take cue from Wall St dive amid bad news
Hong Kong stocks joined a rout across Asia yesterday, tracking a sharp drop on Wall Street on Friday after a slew of bad economic and corporate news signalled the worst is yet to come for the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 2.51 per cent on Friday after a gauge of US business activity last month fell to the lowest since December 2001. At noon yesterday, the Dow fell a further 0.26 per cent.
Investors were also hit after UBS said the subprime problem would continue to hound financial institutions and could leave US$600 billion worth of losses in its wake.
The ominous signs from Wall Street had the Hang Seng Index bracing yesterday morning, with the index dropping 3.45 per cent at the open. The index ended the session down 746.7 points or 3.07 per cent at 23,584.97. All 43 blue chips fell.
'In the very short term, if you are talking about the financial markets, it is very hard to talk about a decoupling' from the US, said Winson Fong, the managing director of SG Asset Management (Hong Kong).