HONG KONG (Thomson Financial) - Hong Kong shares ended Tuesday morning trade sharply lower, tracking heavy losses on Wall Street overnight as the credit crisis continued to cast uncertainty over the banking sector's prospects.
Sentiment across Asian markets was dampened by Goldman Sachs' downgrade on large banks and a remark that Citigroup Inc would probably have to write down 15 billion US dollars more in the next two quarters due to losses from investments related to unpaid housing mortgages.
Bank of East Asia provided a bright spot to trading, rising 2.2 percent after its larger rival BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) bought a 4.94 percent stake in the local lender for 3.95 billion Hong Kong dollars.
The Hang Seng Index was down 757.38 points or 2.8 percent at 26,702.79, extending yesterday's losses.
Turnover stood at 75.98 billion dollars.
Also helping limit the market's overall losses were China Resources Enterprise, which rose after reporting strong third-quarter results, and fixed-line carriers, China Telecom and China Netcom on hopes they will be granted licenses soon to venture into China's mobile phone market.
(1 US dollar = 7.8 Hong Kong dollars)
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