Hong Kong shares tumbled for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, as weakness in local property developers and mainland energy names pulled the Hang Seng Index down 3.4 percent to its lowest close in 2-1/2 years. The market will be closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.
Top losers among index components were CNOOC Ltd and Hang Lung Properties Ltd Embattled mainland property names saw some respite, suggesting there was some rotational selling. "Unfortunately, for China at the moment, people are looking at what's happening elsewhere," said Francis Cheong, CLSA's Hong Kong and China equity strategist.
He added that shorting China through the Hong Kong market is an easy option for investors with Beijing unlikely to loosen monetary policy in the near term, not even with the prospect of slowing global growth and the ongoing eurozone debt debacle. The Hang Seng Index, which has lost nearly 30 percent this year, closed at 16,250.3 points, holding above the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's rise from lows in October 2008 to its cyclical peak in November 2010, seen at around 16,148.
The China Enterprise Index of top Chinese listings in Hong Kong, otherwise known as the H-share index, finished down 3.6 percent at 8,102.6 points. Losses this year - now topping 36 percent - have pushed price/earnings multiples to their lowest since the 2008 financial crisis.
The H-share index is currently trading at 6.8 times 12-month forward earnings, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data. This is also its second-lowest level since 2003. Playing a part in that has been CNOOC Ltd, whose share-price fell 28 percent in the third quarter. The stock now is trading at 6.5 times its forward earnings, the lowest level since the 2008 crisis and below the historical median of 10.7 times. CNOOC, seen as more sensitive to movements in oil prices than the other two big Chinese oil companies, slumped almost 7 percent on Tuesday. PetroChina Co Ltd lost more than 4 percent while Sinopec Corp declined 1.4 percent.