Update | Hong Kong stocks extend sell-off as banking giant HSBC tumbles to 7-year low after calling off pay freeze
HSBC tumbles to lowest close in seven years after the bank decides to scrap a pay freeze plan aimed at cutting costs due to staff protests
Hong Kong stocks closed at their lowest level since mid-2012 on Friday, extending steep declines from the previous day in a holiday shortened week, as index heavyweight HSBC tumbled to a seven-year low after the company decided to scrap a pay freeze plan aimed at cutting costs due to staff protests.
The Hang Seng Index was down 1.2 per cent or 226.22 points at 18,319.58, the lowest close since June 2012. The index fell 3.9 per cent on Thursday after returning from the three-day Lunar New Year break, posting the worst loss to start a Chinese new year since 1994.
For the week, it was down 5 per cent.
So far this year, the Hang Seng Index has plunged more than 16 per cent, already more than doubling the annual loss of 7.2 per cent it rang up in 2015.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or the H-shares index, settled 2 per cent lower at 7,505.37.
Sino-British banking giant HSBC Holdings, one of the most-widely held stocks by Hong Kong retail investors, tumbled 2.7 per cent to HK$48.1, the worst level it has seen since April 2009.
