Hong Kong stocks suffer biggest fall in 2 months as property shares tumble

Late afternoon sell-off partly triggered by warnings over debt; property shares slump amid signs of sales slowdown in China

Hong Kong stocks on Thursday fell by the most in over two months as investors dumped stocks across the board in late afternoon trading, spooked by warnings from China's central bank governor over the country's high debt levels.

The panic selling was also partly triggered by a slump in property shares, amid signs of tighter liquidity in Hong Kong and after data showed property sales in mainland China fell for the first time in over 2-1/2 years.

Also denting sentiment was news China's economic growth eased slightly in the third quarter, with investors scrambling to take profits in recently outperforming sectors such