HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks slumped with the benchmark gauge heading for its steepest quarterly loss in 17 years, as a commodity rout deepened concern about the nation’s growth outlook.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 3.8 percent to 9,149.38 at 1:02 p.m. in Hong Kong, the biggest loss in a month, while the Hang Seng Index dropped 3.5 percent to a two-year low. PetroChina Co. and Jiangxi Copper Co. slumped more than 5 percent after commodities trader Glencore Plc plunged by a record. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 2 percent in thin turnover.
Glencore is the latest victim of the growth slowdown, with its value slashed by about a third Monday amid concern over the commodity trader’s debt and waning raw materials demand. A Bloomberg index of commodity futures has fallen 50 percent since a 2011 high. Data on Monday showed industrial profits dropping the most in at least four years, while an official manufacturing report scheduled for Thursday will likely a show a contraction.
“The economy is getting worse and there’s no sign of a bottom in sight,” said Castor Pang, head of research at Core-Pacific Yamaichi Hong Kong. “Resource companies are hit hard by the slowdown as shown in the industrial profit data this week. The outlook for the stock market doesn’t look so promising in the next quarter.”
