Hong Kong and China stockssent reeling amid global growth worries

Both Hong Kong and Chinese stock markets joined the global market slump on Tuesday as investors headed for the exits amid persistent weakness in oil prices and worries over a hard landing in China.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index Tuesday dropped 478 points, or 2.5 per cent, to close at 18,860.80, the lowest level since June 2012 while. The Hang Seng Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, dropped 278 points or 3.4 per cent to 7,895.16. Among subindexes, energy and financials fell the most. The offshore oil explorer CNOOC dropped 7.15 per cent, while HSBC fell 3.4 per cent.

The Shanghai Composite Index plummeted 6.42 per cent to close at 13-month new low at 2,749.79 while the Shenzhen Index was also down heavily, giving up 7.12 per cent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.35 per cent, or 402 points to 16,708.90 while South Korea’s Kospi shed 1.15 per cent to 1,876.

Crude oil price were negatively impacted by lingering worries over oversupply after Iraq’s output reached a record high last month. Benchmark crude oil prices fell 6 per cent overnight to end below US$30 a barrel.

Investors opted for gold as a safe haven, with the yellow metal rising 0.8 per cent to US$1,105.3 per ounce on NYMEX.