HSBC, China Mobile lead losses, but market ends week higher
The Hong Kong stock market retreated to close below 15,000 points yesterday after the United States Senate rejected a proposed bailout of American carmakers, heightening global recession fears.
The Hang Seng Index dropped as much as 1,134.67 points before the lunch break but bounced back to close with a loss of 855.51 points or 5.48 per cent at 14,758.39. Turnover was HK$58.77 billion.
Wall Street closed lower on Thursday on concern lawmakers would reject the proposed US$14 billion bailout plan for the US car industry. The market fell in late morning trading yesterday after the rejection was confirmed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.89 per cent or 76.3 points.
In Europe, London was down 1.86 per cent in late afternoon trading while Paris was off 2.17 per cent.
Despite the heavy sell-off, the Hong Kong market still gained 6.59 per cent on the week. It fell 0.3 per cent in the previous week.
The weekly gain was partly supported by comments from Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah on the long-awaited 'through-train' programme. Mr Tsang said mainland officials were assessing the risks of launching the scheme to allow mainlanders to invest in Hong Kong stocks directly.