BUS15
Business Hang Seng crashes 8.3 percent to four-year low Hong Kong, Oct 24 DPA Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng
Index slumped 8.3 percent
Friday to plunge below 13,000 points, closing at 12,618.38, its lowest level in four years. The
index shed 1,142 points and in October lost more than 30 percent of its value so far. Turnover was 56.14 billion Hong Kong dollars $7.2 billion. Analysts blamed concerns about corporate earnings and wider global economic woes for the drop. Among the biggest losers were HSBC and
Standard Chartered, two of the territory's largest
banks, dragged down by worries about the banks'
investments in emerging
economies. HSBC saw its
share price crash 12.5 percent to end the day at 88 Hong Kong dollars.
Shares in
Standard Chartered
bank fell 13.46 percent to finish at 105.4 Hong Kong dollars, the lowest level for five years, after
investment house Morgan Stanley cut its target price for the
stock to 125 Hong Kong dollars from 250 Hong Kong dollars. --DPA snb/dkg 185
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