Hong Kong opened lower, and losses accelerated in the afternoon due to weakness in Mainland and European markets. Very slow turnover reflected investor caution.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 100 points higher, but worries over possible fund raising by Chinese banks helped drive the index sharply lower in the late afternoon.
Several brokerages lowered predictions for Hong Kong economic growth, and Mainland markets posted sharp declines to help drive Hong Kong stocks lower after a two-day rally.
Chinese and Hong Kong blue chips consolidated at the 19,000 level after Thursday's whopping gain, and turnover fell. Renewed optimism for a solution in Europe is driving bulls.
After weeks of volatility, China stocks have hit a critical point and could be on a downtrend. China's announcement it was scaling back its GDP target for 2012 hurt sentiment.
Chinese blue chips found early support at 19,000, news that China's "big four" banks had increased new loans the last two weeks triggered a strong rebound in higher turnover.