HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares have closed 1.12 per cent lower following a tepid lead from Wall Street, while Shanghai has been hit by news Chinese A-shares would not yet be included in a global benchmark index of equities.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index eased 301.88 points on Wednesday to close at 26,687.64 on turnover of $HK144.13 billion ($A24.19 billion).
US shares ended virtually flat after a couple of upbeat reports reinforced the chances that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates before the end of the year.
A JOLTS (Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey) report that showed a surge in job vacancies came as a separate small business survey showed firms were hiring more people and paying them more money.
In US share trading on Tuesday, the Dow and S&P 500 ended flat and the Nasdaq fell 0.15 per cent.
News in Hong Kong that a woman was rushed to hospital on suspicion she had contracted the potentially deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus also weighed on the local market, analysts said.
The woman had sought treatment for a runny nose and fever after returning from a trip to South Korea, where an outbreak has killed nine people and infected 108.
The virus is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed 299 people in Hong Kong in 2003.
“Reports about MERS were a catalyst to bring the market down,” said Mari Oshidari, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Okasan Securities Group Inc.
“The market has been unstable recently, so in this kind of environment, investors are taking any excuse to sell.”
