A fall on Wall Street sent the Hang Seng Index tumbling 1 per cent yesterday. Most of the blue-chip shares fell, with property and banking stocks accounting for most of the downturn. HSBC Holdings, Sun Hung Kai Properties and Cheung Kong accounted for more than 50 per cent of the Hang Seng's decline. The Hang Seng Index ended at 10,802.68, down 118.67 on the day. The All Ordinaries Index, which includes small and medium-sized firms, fell 47.66 points to 5,220.13, a 0.9 per cent loss. Turnover was $5 billion, up from a revised $3.7 billion on Thursday. Losers outpaced gainers 367 to 157, with 311 stocks ending unchanged. Yesterday's fall highlighted the insecurity of domestic investors ahead of US inflation figures, released overnight in the US. Andrew Fernow, research director at Vickers Ballas Securities, said: 'It reflects genuine concern that the US market may be entering a correction phase.' However, Howard Gorges, director at South China Brokerage, said investors misinterpreted the reasons for Wall Street's loss. He pointed out that the Dow Jones Index fell after computer maker Hewlett Packard reported poor business conditions, indicating that the US economy might be slowing. An easing in US growth would result in low interest rates, which would be positive for the Hong Kong stock market. The index dropped sharply from the opening, before finding some support about the 10,800-point level. Peter Fu, managing director at Peregrine, said: 'The 10,800 is a critical level.' Banking shares saw some of the sharpest losses yesterday, with the Hang Seng financial index closing at 10,412, down 131 points. HSBC Holdings fell 1.23 per cent, while Bank of East Asia lost 2.67 per cent and Dao Heng Bank saw its shares drop 3.23 per cent. Blue-chip property shares closed lower amid uncertainty over US interest rates. Cheung Kong dropped 1.81 per cent, while Sun Hung Kai lost 1.65 per cent. Buying sentiment was mostly reserved for small and mid-size stocks. Analysts said smaller Hong Kong companies generally had less property investments than the large conglomerates. As a result, they were less sensitive to the present scare over interest rates. Garment company YGM Trading rose on expectations of an improving retail market in Hong Kong and China. Companion Building Materials rose after announcing it had won an order from New World Development to supply ceramic tiles in China. US producer inflation data, which was released after the Hong Kong market closed yesterday, showed mild growth. US consumer inflation figures will be released early next week.
