Hong Kong shares fall on US downgrade

HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks fell 2.17 percent on Monday as dealers were spooked by the downgrade of the United States' credit rating at the end of last week.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index shed 455.57 points to 20,490.57 on turnover of HK$99.60 billion ($12.75 billion).

Chinese shares closed down 3.79 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 99.60 points to 2,526.82 on turnover of 117.6 billion yuan ($18.3 billion) -- its lowest closing level since July 19, 2010.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011