Hang Seng index drops significantly

In Hong Kong on Tuesday, the Hang Seng index dropped 2.9 percent to 18,639.53. The index fell 564.48 points, its worst one-day loss since the day after the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. The declines came after recent gains that sent the Hang Seng to an all-time closing high of 19,265.32 just last Thursday.

The worst of the declines came in the banking and real estate sectors. Also dropping substantially was exporter Li & Fung, which fell 4.1 percent to HK$22.05 on Wal-Mart’s statement of lower sales in November. Among mainland banks see significant losses were Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China, which were each 5.3 percent lower, to HK$3.76 and HK$3.56 respectively. China Construction Bank dropped 6.4 percent to HK$3.79. In the real estate sector, Sung Hung Kai dropped 4 percent to HK.95 and Cheung Kong was 5.1 percent lower to HK$90.55.

In Tokyo on Tuesday the equities markets were mixed, with the Nikkei225 down 0.2 percent to 15,855.26 while the Topix added 0. Percent to 2,555.11. The Mothers market of small and mid-cap stocks gained 1.5 percent to 1,118.55.

Export stocks were generally lower. In the automobile manufacturing sector, Toyota fell0.7 percent to ¥6,830 while Honda dropped 2.5 percent to ¥3,940. The electronics sector also saw losses. Sanyo Electric was 1.2 percent lower to ¥168 on the announcement that it will see losses for the third year in a row, while Sony dropped 1.7 percent to ¥3,970.

The real estate sector added 1.4 percent as a whole, with Sumitomo Realty & Development gaining 1.5 percent to ¥3,480. In the telecommunications sector, meanwhile, Softbank was up 2.4 percent to ¥2,370. Still, not all domestic sectors saw positive movement. The retail sector dropped 0.6 percent, with Aeon down 0.8 percent to ¥2,660.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Hang Seng index drops significantly