Hong Kong stocks plunged 212 points, or 1.0%, to 19,653 in morning trade on Thursday after a big gain the previous day, pressured by a sharp drop on Wall Street overnight after the U.S. Fed cut interest rates for the third time this year, as expected, but halved the number of rate cuts anticipated for next year to two. The market was near a two-week low, with all sectors dragging down the Hang Seng Index. China Vanke Co.

Its shares plunged 4.5% after Bloomberg News reported that Chinese regulators have asked the country's largest insurers to disclose their financial exposure to the troubled developer. Signs of strong fiscal stimulus in China next year, including a potential increase in its record deficit to 4% of GDP from 3% this year, helped mitigate further losses. Early laggards among large-caps included Geely Auto (-4.0%), Akeso Inc (-3.4%), Sun Hung Kai Properties (-2.8%), and Henderson Land Development (-2.7%).

Source: Trading Economics