HK Stocks Slide 2 Percent Following Nasdaq's Fall

Hong Kong stocks plummeted on Monday to close below the 17,000 level, dragged down by Nasdaq's fall in the United States.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 342.95 points, or two percent, to close at 16,840.98.

Nasdaq fell more than 5 percent at the weekend on unexpectedly strong gross domestic product data which has stoked renewed fears of interest rate rises.

The day's turnover was HK$ 11.341 billion (US$ 1.454 billion), sharply down from Friday's HK$ 15.812 billion (US$ 2.027 billion).

The four sub-indexes of the HSI all lost ground, with Finance, Utilities, Properties and Commerce & Industry dropping 1.07 percent, 1.28 percent, 2.65 percent and 2.38 percent, respectively.

But Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and Hang Seng China- Affiliated Corp Index registered gains, going up 1.80 percent and 0.63 percent.

Hang Seng IT Index and Hang Seng IT Portfolio Index fell 1.99 percent and 0.40 percent.

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