Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index plunged 3.9 percent Monday, following regional markets on concerns about the impact of US subprime mortgage crisis.

 

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 3.9 percent, or 1,117.68 points, to close at 27,665.73, after fluctuating between 27,468.00 and 28,071.53, with the total turnover of 139.95 billion HK dollars (17.99 billion HK dollars), up from 133.23 billion HK dollars (17.15 billion HK dollars) last Friday.

 

Three of the four major categories lost ground. The Commerce and Industry tumbled 4.56 percent, followed by the Finance at 4.18 percent and the Properties at 1.84 percent. The Utilities, the only gainer, edged 0.51 percent.

 

The central bank of China Saturday raised the reserve requirement ratio for banks in a bid to curb loan growth. The reserve hike, which will be effective November 26, will require most commercial banks to keep 13.5 percent of deposits with the central bank, up from 13 percent at the moment.

 

HSBC fell 2.8 percent to close at 137.10 HK dollars, after hitting an intraday low of 136.0 HK dollars, as investment banks downgraded their ratings and target price for the stock.

 

Chinese banks led the decline in China-related shares. The Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, tracking H shares of mainland companies, slumped 5.9 percent or 1047.17 points to 16,656.91. ICBC, the country's biggest lender by assets, fell 4.3 percent to 7.51 HK dollars. China Construction Bank dropped 4.3 percent to 7.51 HK dollars.

 

On Chinese telecom stocks front, China Mobile was down 5.55 cent, Netcom down 4.44 percent, China Unicom down 8.62 percent, and China Telecom down 6.46 percent.

 

PetroChina, China Shenhua and China Overseas to be included into blue chips together on December 10 slipped together, down 7.31 percent, 2.71 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.

 

The three insurers moved lower. China Life, Ping An and PICC P & C fell 4.28 percent to 7.07 percent and China Insurance dived 4.91 percent.

 

On resource stocks front, Sinopec Corp and CNOOC plunged 8.23 percent and 6.86 percent.

 

HKEX imminent to release quarterly results was down 6.71 percent.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2007)