Hong Kong stocks decline

Hong Kong stocks posted their biggest one day drop in nearly a year and a half on Thursday, down more than 2 percent, as global financial markets slid on worries about rising interest rates and potential inflation.
Blue chip bellwethers such as China Mobile and offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd were among the major losers in a broad-based selloff sparked by a steep fall on Wall Street.
China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd fell 4.25 percent, compounding a 3.4 percent loss on Wednesday. China's top offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd fell 4.63 percent to HK$5.15.
"It's the October curse. Every year in October the market feels the pinch from either interest rates or avian flu or whatever. You can bet on a technical rebound in the short term but I don't think we'll really recover until November," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities.
The blue chip Hang Seng Index fell 2.12 percent, or 321.73 points, to 14,839.30, dropping to its lowest levels in over five weeks.
Volume was heavy with HK$26 billion (US $3.33 billion) worth of shares exchanged.
The Hang Seng properties sub index fell 2.53 percent. Sino Land Co Ltd, a recent investor favourite, was the worst performing property blue chip, down 4.21 percent to HK$9.10. The shares have jumped more than 15 percent over the past three months.
New World Development Co Ltd fell 3.94 percent to HK$9.75 despite reporting it swung into profit in its last fiscal year thanks to a rebound in the city's property markets and asset sales by its infrastructure arm.
China oil plays reeled after world oil prices dropped to their lowest level in two months after US government data showed a drop in oil demand.
China's largest oil producer PetroChina Co Ltd fell 3.15 percent to HK$6.15.
Carmaker Denway Motors Ltd and China sourcing and trading firm Li & Fung Co Ltd, were the only two gainers out of 33 Hang Seng component stocks.
Denway Motors, the Chinese carmaking joint venture of Japan's Honda Motor Co, rose 2.4 percent to HK$2.77 after it said it would buy 49 percent of China car parts and components maker Guangzhou Automobile Group Component Co Ltd for HK$710 million (US $91 million) in cash. Li & Fung, one of the top performing stocks so far this year, rose 0.86 percent to HK$17.55.