Hong Kong shares fall

Hong Kong shares fell for the fourth straight trading day on Tuesday amid thin volume, with handset maker Foxconn hitting a two-year low on worries over market share losses. Falls in property stocks such as Hang Lung Properties and China Overseas ahead of a US interest rate meeting also weighed on the market.
"The market continues to move lower on a lack of major positive news and the outcome and statement from a FOMC meeting will dictate the short-term trend of the market," said Alex Tang, research director, Core Pacific-Yamaichi International (HK) Ltd.
The US Federal Reserves is expected to hold interest rates steady, but investors will scrutinise its statement for any hints on the outlook for monetary policy. Foxconn, the world's top contract maker of cellphones fell 5.4 percent to HK$8.88, tracking a 6 percent drop in Motorola shares overnight. Motorola, one of Foxconn's major customers, has been beset by declining sales in its home market of North America.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 1.14 percent, or 258.94 points, at its session low of 22,456.02, led by a slide in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearning. The main index moved within a 275 point range after opening 0.08 percent lower.
The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland firms lost 1.8 percent to close at 12,018.51, despite a 1.5 percent gain on the Shanghai stock exchange. Mainboard turnover eased to HK$59.17 billion from Monday's HK$59.68 billion as investors refrained from taking big positions ahead of the Fed meeting later on Tuesday.
The sharp fall in daily trading volume has fuelled active selling of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing shares, which slid 4.3 percent to HK$117.70. Morgan Stanley said if the average daily turnover on the exchange stayed at HK$65 billion, the average over the last 10 days, the fair value of the stock would fall to less than HK$100 per share. But CNOOC bucked the market trend to rise 1.4 percent as international crude prices rose for the third straight session on supply disruptions in Nigeria.
Chinese power producer Huaneng Power dived 7.8 percent on concerns that Beijing's recent power price hikes were inadequate to aid an industry grappling with shrinking margins. China Oilfield Services, an affiliate of top offshore oil producer CNOOC, gained 1.2 percent. China Oilfield told the Hong Kong stock exchange it was considering various business opportunities, adding to speculation that it was in advanced talks to buy Norwegian oil driller Awilco Offshore for more than $2 billion, as reported by the Wall Street Journal last week.