Hong Kong stock index crumbles 12.7 % -- 'Nothing but Pain'

[marmar]

from MarketWatch:



Hang Seng crumbles 12.7% -- `nothing but pain'

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch


HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks crumbled under a barrage of selling Monday, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index plunging 12.7% to its lowest finish in more than four years as investors who bought shares on credit were forced to offload them in a falling market.

The session also saw benchmark indexes in Mumbai, the Philippines, and Thailand slump 10% or more, although India's Sensex pared losses by the end of the session on the back of better-than-expected earnings from Icici Bank and short-covering by investors in the afternoon.

"What we're seeing is capitulation selling on covering of the yen positions. That's creating an awful lot of uncertainty," said Benjamin Collett, head of hedge-fund sales trading at Daiwa Securities SMBC in Hong Kong. "The yen continues to strengthen as people are unwinding risk and there is nothing but pain there."

He was referring to the unwinding of the yen carry trades - a practice where investors who previously borrowed in low-yielding currencies such as the yen to buy other high-yielding assets were now being forced to reverse their moves because the yen was appreciating.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slumped as much as 15.4% during the day, sliding under both the 12,000- and 11,000-point milestones in a single session. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hang-seng-crumbles-127---/story.aspx?guid=%7B9A530A21%2D01F9%2D4DE0%2DA439%2D504B07C91216%7D

[Lerkfish]

1. weird: I first read your headline as "nothing but Palin"

LOL

[marmar]

2. Palin....Pain......what's the difference?

:)

[mikeytherat]

3. Same here!

n/t

mikey_the_rat