Hk shares down 1 pct on Shanghai lead; Cosco sinks

Fri Aug 8, 2008 4:06am EDT

HONG KONG, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares fell 1 percent on Friday, led by Chinese stocks as the Shanghai market nosedived to a 19-month low on worries about economic deceleration after the Olympics.

The Hang Seng Index .HSI unofficially closed down 212.85 points at 21,891.35. The index has given up nearly 4.3 percent this week.

The China Enterprises Index .HSCE of top locally listed Chinese firms fell 1.6 percent, tracking a 4.5 percent loss on the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC.

Shipping stocks continued their downturn for a fifth day after the global freight benchmark, the Baltic Dry Index .BADI dropped 4.4 percent overnight, its steepest fall in nearly two months.

China's largest shipping company, China Cosco plunged more than 10 percent, adding to its 17 percent decline in the previous four sessions. China Shipping Development also tumbled 10 percent.

(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)