Hong Kong stocks drop to 10-month low as Evergrande woes spark contagion fears

Hong Kong stocks fell for the fourth straight day to a 10-month closing low, as shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group tumbled to their lowest in a decade, sparking contagion fears. ** Hong Kong's consumer discretionary sector tumbled nearly 3%, while healthcare stocks dropped nearly 2%. ** The Hang Sang TECH Index fell 1%.

Hong Kong stocks fell for the fourth straight day to a 10-month closing low, as shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group tumbled to their lowest in a decade, sparking contagion fears. ** The Hang Seng index fell 1.5%, to 24,667.85, the lowest closing level since early November. The China Enterprises Index also lost 1.5%.

** Evergrande shares tumbled 6.4% to HK$2.63, touching their lowest level since 2011, as a liquidity crisis at the debt-laden developer worsens. ** The company's main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group Co Ltd, suspended trading of its onshore corporate bonds following a downgrade, a move that some analysts think foreshadows a default.

** Investors rushed to sell shares of other property developers, as Goldman Sachs warned Evergrande's crisis could pose spillover risks to the broader Chinese property sector. ** Hong Kong's property subindex slumped more than 3%. Chinese developer Sunac China Holdings tumbled 11.3%, while rival Country Garden slumped 7.2%.

** Investor confidence had been battered already by a flurry of crackdowns from Beijing on industries ranging from technology to private tutoring. ** "The investment lens through which global investors evaluate opportunities in China has changed and the strategies deployed towards investing in the Middle Kingdom need to adapt accordingly," wrote Norman Vilamin, CIO of Wealth Management at Union Bancaire Privee.

** Rating agency Fitch also warned that an Evergrande default could expose numerous sectors to heightened credit risk. ** Hong Kong's consumer discretionary sector tumbled nearly 3%, while healthcare stocks dropped nearly 2%.

** The Hang Sang TECH Index fell 1%.