Hong Kong stocks plunge to six-month low by midday

Hong Kong stocks on Monday plunged to the lowest level in around half a year, following bearish global markets and also weighed down by concerns about lingering violent incidents.

Pedestrians walk past an electronic billboard showing the Hang Seng Index (HSI) in Hong Kong, China, June 3, 2019. [File Photo: AP via IC/Vincent YuIC]

The benchmark Hang Seng Index at a moment tumbled more than 3 percent down in the morning session, extending its losing streak to the fourth trading day.

The index opened at 26,480.47 points on Friday, 1.63 percent down from the previous closing, and remained lackluster for the whole morning session to end at 26,140.721 points by noon, down 2.89 percent.

Turnover totaled 53.35 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 6.81 billion U.S. dollars).

Most of blue chips suffered, with property developers and insurers leading the decline.