Hong Kong shares fall as Evergrande missing interest payment sparks jitters

Hong Kong shares ended lower on Friday, dragged down by broad losses across sectors, as global investors fretted over the impact of a missed bond interest payment by debt-laden developer China Evergrande. ** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 318.82 points, or 1.3%, at 24,192.16.

Hong Kong shares ended lower on Friday, dragged down by broad losses across sectors, as global investors fretted over the impact of a missed bond interest payment by debt-laden developer China Evergrande.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 318.82 points, or 1.3%, at 24,192.16. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.47% to 8,604.99. ** The energy sub-index dipped 1.7%, the IT sector dipped 1.12%, the financial sector ended 0.9% lower and the property sector slumped 2.28%. ** Property sector shares were hit after a bond interest payment deadline for heavily indebted developer China Evergrande Group expired on Thursday, with bondholders reporting they had not been paid. ** China Evergrande's shares tanked 11.61%, making it the biggest percentage decliner among H-shares. ** China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group dived 23.37% and Evergrande Property Services Group fell 4.42%. ** China's main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.8% at 3,613.07, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.08%. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.06%. ** The yuan was quoted at 6.4647 per U.S. dollar at 08:10 UTC, 0.07% weaker than the previous close of 6.46. ** At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 46.54% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.