The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the seven-day slide in which it had plummeted more than 2,800 points or 10.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index settled just above the 21,670-point plateau, although the market figures to take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative, with selling pressure triggered by soft economic data around the world. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower, and the Asian bourses also figure to open in the red.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following heavy damage among the financials, properties, casinos and oil companies.
For the day, the index plummeted 485.15 points or 2.24 percent to finish at 21,185.43 after trading between 21,170.86 and 21,692.78 on turnover of 85.82 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Among the actives, CKH Holdings shed 2.03 percent, while HSBC lost 1.31 percent, Henderson Land fell 2.93 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties skidded 3.36 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 3.62 percent, CITIC Limited plunged 5.49 percent, PetroChina tumbled 3.88 percent, CNOOC plummeted 4.06 percent, China Mobile retreated 1.22 percent and China Life gave away 4.66 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks saw substantial weakness on Tuesday, adding to the loss in the previous session.
The Dow plunged 469.68 points or 2.8 percent to 16,058.35, while the NASDAQ tumbled 140.40 points or 2.9 percent to 4,636.10 and the S&P 500 plummeted 58.33 points or 3 percent to 1,913.85.
The sell-off reflected ongoing concerns about the global economy following the release of disappointing Chinese economic data - which showed the Chinese manufacturing sector contracted by the most in six years in August.
Adding to the worries, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of U.S. manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in over two years in August.
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