Hong Kong shares suffer biggest decline in half a month

The Hang Seng Index dropped 3% following the release of the US jobs report which an economist described as “scary”.

Dan North, chief U.S. economist at Euler Hermes ACI in Maryland, was quoted by a Bloomberg report as saying, “When you get to negative job growth, which we’re very close to now, it means you’re already in a recession.”

The report said, “The Hang Seng Index slipped 3% to 19,616.43 at the 4 p.m. close of trading in Hong Kong, the biggest drop since August 19, after a Chinese services index also fell to a record low. All but one of the 46 stocks on the gauge fell. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong slid 3.4% to 10,299.17.”

Cathay Pacific Airways, for instance, which counts North America as its biggest market for sales, lost 2.5% to HK$15.34.

View the report here.