Hong Kong shares slid 1.83 percent to their lowest closing level in more than three months on Wednesday, as Germany's move to tighten financial regulations and declines in overseas markets battered already fragile investor sentiment. China's key stock index closed down 0.3 percent on Wednesday while turnover shrank to a two-month low, with property shares easing after a rally the day before as worries about further measures to clamp down on the sector weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down 365.96 points at 19,578.98, its lowest closing level since February 8, when the index touched 19,550.89. "The developments in the euro zone are very disturbing from the point of view of the Chinese investors," said Jackson Wong, investment manager at Tanrich Securities. "There are fears that the euro zone might break up and that will create the chaos we saw in 2008."
The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks closed down 2.64 percent at 11,124.59. Market turnover increased to HK$59.1 billion ($7.58 billion) from Tuesday's HK$57.7 billion. Index heavyweight HSBC Holdings fell 1.7 percent. Denway Motors posted its worst decline ever after Guangzhou Automobile, China's No 6 car maker, said it will swap its stock for shares of Denway in a privatisation bid ahead of its own listing. But analysts said the deal's valuations were too high. Denway's stock closed down 24.1 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended the day at 2,587.8 points, giving up modest gains in the afternoon and following a rise of 1.4 percent on Tuesday. The index has been one of the worst performers in Asia this year, besides Greece so far this year, tumbling more than 20 percent in large part because of harsh government steps to rein in property prices. The sell-off has defied a solid recovery in the world's third-largest economy and strong corporate earnings. "After yesterday's large bounce, there is not much momentum for a further rebound in property stocks. The market will continue to be weighed down by concern over when future tightening policies will emerge, until those measures are clarified," said Zhang Gang, analyst at Central Securities.
The property sub-index fell 1.2 percent. China State Construction Engineering Corp, the third most-active Shanghai stock, fell 1.9 percent, although Gemdale Corp, the most actively traded share, rose 0.5 percent. Property sector heavyweight China Vanke was the most actively traded stock on the Shenzhen market, down 1.1 percent. Investor wariness of the market was evident as turnover sank to a two-month low of 76 billion yuan ($11.13 billion) from Tuesday's 84 billion yuan.
Losing Shanghai stocks outnumbered winners 540 to 330. The Shanghai index's 14-day relative strength index was at 27, below the 30 mark that indicates a market has become oversold. The most-active June contract for the country's stock index futures slid 1.2 percent.
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