A late, index futures-led sell-off yesterday sent Hong Kong stocks to their first decline in four sessions, brokers said. The losses were felt across the width of the market, with mainland-related shares sliding heavily after the mid-session break, they said. Amsteel Securities associate director Sean Li Chok-sun said: 'We expected some form of consolidation.' When the futures market saw a sudden sell-off in the afternoon, stocks followed, he said. The Hang Seng Index dropped 191.22 points, or 1.27 per cent, to end at 14,805.44. The fall almost exactly erased Tuesday's 190.17-point gain, which together with the two preceding rises had put 5.61 per cent on the benchmark index. Turnover was $26.16 billion, better than the previous day's $24.15 billion. The value of trade has risen each day this week, but remains below the daily average for the past month. Brokers said the market was rife with talk of another severe downturn in the coming days. Rumours made the rounds that Morgan Stanley had turned bearish in the short term. A spokesman for the US investment bank denied the speculation, saying Hong Kong remained the best pick of the region's markets. Others said futures and derivatives traders were sitting hoping to depress share prices ahead of any positive news that might emerge in the next few weeks, either from the 15th Communist Party Congress in Beijing or the IMF-World Bank meeting in Hong Kong. Expectations are high that the congress will bring the announcement of an aggressive restructuring of the state-enterprise sector. 'There were market rumours that the US hedge funds were coming back in. But maybe this was an excuse to take profit,' Prudential Portfolio Management manager Andrew Look said. 'There are plenty of reasons for investors to be cautious. There's been a 2,000-point retracement since the recent low,' he said. The market sank to an intra-day nadir of 12,899.81 on September 2 after nine falls in 11 sessions. Mr Look cited fears that interest rates might rise and pointed to the sluggish state of the property market, both in primary and secondary sales. Yesterday, the blue-chip market dipped slightly in the morning session, closing 30.2 points weaker. Afternoon selling pressure expanded that loss more than fivefold as index futures dropped. The September contract fell 325 points to close at 14,765, a 40-point discount to the cash. OSK Asia Securities sales director Andrew To Koon-hung said: 'It's normal to have some profit-taking after the advance. There was resistance for the market at 15,000 points.' Also weaker were red chips, which fell 1.34 per cent, and H shares, which lost 0.41 per cent. Mr Li said: 'Overall, I think that this adjustment is healthy. I hope that the market will stabilise at 14,800, but the futures are already below that.' KEY FIGURES Close: 14,805.44 (- 191.22) Turnover: $26.16 bln Volume: 13.64 bln shares Day's high: 15,042.87 Day's low: 14,746.92 Advanced: 314 Declined: 562 Unchanged: 340 Sept futures: 14,765 (- 325) October futures: 14,810 (- 328)