Hong Kong Stocks Fall to 1-Year Low; Foxconn, China Cosco Drop

By Hanny Wan

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong stocks fell, dragging the benchmark index to a one-year low, on renewed concern slowing global economic growth will damp consumption.

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., the world's biggest contract maker of mobile phones, slipped 3 percent after the U.S. central bank said business across most of the nation was ``slow'' last month. China Cosco Holdings Co. plunged 6.2 percent, leading declines among shipping companies. China Communications Construction Co., the world's biggest builder of ports, slumped 14 percent after CLSA Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. cut their recommendations on the stock to ``sell.''

``Signs of a U.S. economic slowdown are getting more and more obvious and that adds pressure on demand for imports,'' said Castor Pang, a strategist at Sun Hung Kai Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong.

The Hang Seng Index lost 195.58, or 1 percent, to 20,389.48, its worst close since Aug. 17, 2007, the last trading day before the announcement of China's so-called ``through train'' pilot program, under which nationals with a Bank of China Ltd. account in Tianjin would be allowed to buy Hong Kong equities.

The Hang Seng Index rallied since then to peak at 31,638.22 on Oct. 30, prompting China's Premier Wen Jiabao to say on Nov. 3 that the government needed more time to assess the risks to the stability of Hong Kong's financial system. The gauge has since plunged 36 percent as inflation slowed global economic growth and the world's financial companies posted writedowns and credit losses of more than $500 billion.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks so- called H shares of Chinese mainland companies, declined 1.4 percent to 10,924.91.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hanny Wan in Hong Kong at hwan3@bloomberg.net