Hong Kong's stocks fell for a second consecutive day on Friday, led by financials, as a global sell-off in bank shares gathered steam while concerns about the health of the global economy dragged shares in conglomerates and utilities lower.
The benchmark index was down 1.22 percent at 18,319.58 by the end of the morning session. The China-enterprises index was down 1.99 percent at 7,505.37.
Hong Kong's financials sub-index, fell more than 1.5 percent on the day with shares in insurer AIA, Ping An and HSBC leading losers.
"We have been hit by a steady spate of bad news since the year began and I think the markets will remain in a state of flux in the near term until we see global bank shares stabilising," said Francois Perrin, portfolio manager for East Capital Asia in Hong Kong.
The stock market has lost 35 percent of its value since it peaked last April
Japan's Nikkei share average stumbled to a fresh 16-month low in heavy trade on Friday, and posted the biggest weekly drop since 2008 as investors scrambled to dump risky assets after the dollar dived to a 15-month low against the yen.
The Nikkei sank 4.8 percent to 14,952.61, the lowest closing level since October, 2014.
For the week, the Nikkei dived 11.1 percent, the biggest weekly drop since October, 2008.
Traders said that investors feared Japanese exporters' hopes of earnings growth will suffer if the yen strengthens further.
Automakers were hammered. Toyota Motor Corp fell 6.8 percent and Honda Motor Co dropped 5.5 percent.
According to analysts at Nomura Securities, when the dollar falls by 1 yen, it cuts Japan Inc's pretax earnings by 0.4-0.5 percent and pushes the Nikkei share average down by 400 points.
Reference: Reuters
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