Hong Kong Market endures losses in heavy trade

The Hong Kong stock market endured another day of losses in heavy trade on Thursday, 07 January 2016, as risk aversion selloff flared after trading in the world's second-biggest equity market was halted following another huge stock plunge. The slide came after China's central bank lowered the yuan's daily reference rate by the most since last summer. Chinese stocks closed early after the CSI 300 Index slumped 7.2 percent, triggering an automatic halt, the second time trading has been stopped this week. The local benchmark opened down 208 points at 20,772. It then saw its losses widen to as much as 656 points at an intra-day low of 20,323. The benchmark Hang Seng Index tumbled 647.47 points, or 3.09%, to 20333.34 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, benchmark measure of performance of mainland China enterprises, dropped 383.82 points, or 4.2%, to 8753.97 points. Turnover soared 43% to HK$107.2 billion from HK$75.2 billion on Wednesday. The HSI Volatility Index (VHSI), which measures the cost of options on the Hong Kong equity gauge, spiked 15.8% to 28.87 points, suggesting 8.3% swing in the equity benchmark index in the next 30 days.

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