News Service from Weird House

Hong Kong share prices down 6.4 per cent at midday

Hong Kong shares were down 6.4 per cent at midday today, after a sharp fall on Wall Street as recession fears resurfaced following the US presidential election, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was off 950.74 points to 13,889.42.

Turnover wasHK25.84 billion ($A4.84 billion).

Analysts at ICEA said poor economic data released from the US this week hadtaken a toll, adding that another test will be a US job market report due out Friday.

Airline Cathay Pacific led the decline, falling 13.3 per cent after it posted a profit warning because of losses on fuel hedging contracts.

Australia and other markets in the region were also down. Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 595.61 points or 6.26 per cent to 8,925.63 by early afternoon.

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