By DPA,
Hong Kong : Hong Kong shares plunged more than 6 percent in the first minutes of trading Tuesday in response to news of the defeat of the $700-billion rescue plan in Washington.
The Hang Seng Index fell below 17,000 points within 10 minutes of the market opening Tuesday but recovered some lost ground to reach 17,266, a loss of 3.43 percent or 641 points on Monday’s close, by 11 a.m.
The plunge in share prices was mirrored by sharply lower prices across Asia after a sell-off on Wall Street in response to the rejection of the economic bail-out plan by the US House of Representatives overnight.
Hong Kong share prices have been in a prolonged decline since last October when they peaked at almost 32,000 points.